Running Like Clockwerk
by Airo Smicktor
Summary: Douglas Smicktor is caught up in a battle between organised crime, Sly Cooper, and the Law. He's in too deep, all because of something he didn't realise he was helping to rebuild...
1. Another Textbook Job

**Running Like Clockwerk**

A Sly Cooper fan-fiction written by Airo Smicktor

Disclaimer: The following story is a piece of fan-fiction that features many of the characters that have featured in the Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus/Sly Racoon computer game. These characters are property of, and either trademarks or registered trademarks of Sucker Punch. I do not claim any ownership over these characters or the computer games they are featured in. I, Airo Smicktor, do however claim ownership of this fan-fiction; it's title, the subsequent chapters of it, and the name Airo Smicktor. I do however claim full ownership of my character Douglas Smicktor, who features in this story.

Please also be aware that this fan-fiction is no representation of the characters used in it. They are being placed in fictitious circumstances and situations, which would never occur in the actual computer games series, and their actions are only based on my own personal views on what characters would do in these positions. That is why this is called a fan-fiction: It is a made-up story written by a fan of the characters used in it, which is just expressing his enjoyment of the characters used.

By choosing to view this fan-fiction, you agree that you will not remove or edit any part or this entire story and then claim that it is your own work. Such stealing is damaging to the truthful internet fans who love reading original works featuring well-known characters, and is much like stealing someone's writing in real life and publishing it yourself. You also agree that you understand that there is no serious or intentional breach of copyright occurring here. Besides, you are the one who choose to view this, I did not send it to you, so if I am 'breaking the law', so are you my friend! By viewing this fan-fic, you also agree that if the time comes, you will have to pledge ever-lasting allegiances to Airo Smicktor in his take-over of the world, that or just lend him the bus fare home if he takes over. When did I start talking in third-person? Sorry, that last couple of lines didn't mean anything; I just wanted to reward anyone who read this with some random humour. Feel honoured. Anyway, by viewing this, you agree that you understand the difference between fact and fiction, and you understand the events that occur here will not occur in the actual computer game or in real life. I cannot be held reasonable if you cannot tell that difference.

* * *

Author's Comments: Douglas Smicktor is a young fox that works for money as a 'recovery expert', with no fixed abode. For the past 6 months, he's been carrying out a strange string of jobs of a mysterious employer, no questions asked. When he's told to meet his boss, he finds himself caught up in a battle between Sly Cooper, the Police, and the world's biggest crime syndicate. Douglas has gotten himself in deep without knowing it, can he escape what he's become, or does he want to escape?

Prologue – Another Textbook Job

* * *

Location: The rooftops of Paris, France, Eastern Europe.  
Time: 23:32  
Weather Conditions: Cloudy sky, Quarter Moon. 

"COOPER!" Sly heard her scream out again, above the sounds of the energy blasts crashing off the rooftops around him.

'She really doesn't give up! Thank god her aim hasn't gotten any better!' Sly thought, sliding down a telephone cable, looking over his shoulder at the chasing Fox, who was leaping over the gaps he had done with ease 'Damn, how much of her spare time does she spend training?'

"Sly? SLY?" Shouted a worried voice through Sly's hidden radio in his hat.  
"Quit screaming Bentley! I'm fine, and I've got the stuff..." Sly glanced at the bag slung over his shoulder, "...are you guys in position?"  
"Yes! Murray's got the van ready to go, but what's...?"

**BLAM!**

Another shot slammed into the wall Sly had just slid past, causing Sly to instinctively jump down from the wire into the dark alleyway below.

"If I said Fox would it make you feel better?" Sly replied, with his usual dry wit and humour.  
"Sly! You said you promised that you wouldn't get caught!"  
"Well chalk up liar as another of my crimes then, I'll bet at the van before you guys know it..." Sly mused, looking towards the dim streetlights of another street that this alley led to...

"NOT SO FAST COOPER!" Carmelita screamed again, firing some more shots blindly down into the unlit alley. She landed with Olympic-like grace onto the hard concrete, and looked around for her criminal target. All she saw was the steam coming up from the shots she'd just fired. He'd vanished, but how?

"I know that you're around here somewhere Cooper..." She said, pointing her gun towards the exit of the alleyway that led to a dimly lit street. "...This time you can't run from the law..." She clicked the dial of the gun, setting it to 'high-stun' and placing her finger on the well-used trigger. Sly Cooper was hers this time; there would be no mistake or slip-ups. She could sense him, she could feel him. He was close. He was near. He was... Behind her?

In one swift motion, Carmelita spun around one hundred and eighty degrees, bringing her gun up to her head as she spun, before lowering it back down and firing it as the turn was completed.

**CRACK!**

A loud splintering sound was heard as a cloud of smoke rose up from the darkness. Carmelita had certainly hit something. She pulled a torch out of her pocket, and flashed it on, pointing it towards where she'd fired. There was something strangely thin lying on the floor. The Inspector moved forward, cautiously, to investigate. She stood over it, her face turned into an angry snarl. She was looking down at a broken cardboard replica of Sly Cooper. She'd been tricked again. She screamed out in frustration, while bringing her boot firmly down onto the smiling face on the decoy. A smile almost as big as the one on the real Cooper's face at the same moment.

"I told you Bent, you worry too much! It was another textbook job" Sly said, putting his 'swag' bag down, taking a seat in the back of the van.  
"Maybe I do Sly, but that was very close that time..." Bentley said back, trying to be as stern as he could, looking over at the racoon while sitting in the front passenger seat.  
"It was nothing! Besides, I got to use Sir Andrew Cooper's Thief Replica Technique didn't I?" Sly smiled, removing his trademark cap and wiping the sweat from his brow.

"You sure did Sly!" Murray said, driving the van away out of the dark back streets of the city, heading for their secret hideout.  
"Well... As long as you're not hurt..." Bentley half-mumbled under his breath, turning back to look at the road.

'Always the worry-guts...' Sly thought, looking at his turtle friend. 'Still, it's been another successful night of thieving, and I got to have some fun with Fox on the side. Things can't possibly go wrong now!'

Little did Sly know how wrong he was.

* * *

Location: A dimly light street in Paris, France, Eastern Europe.  
Time: 23:34  
Weather Conditions: Cloudy sky, Quarter Moon.

Carmelita stormed out of the dark alley, leaving behind the smashed decoy of Sly behind her, almost running into a hunched beggar. She didn't even notice the fox, which was dragging a shopping cart behind him, which was full of all manner of clothes and old cushions, as she headed off back to her police car. He stopped pulling his cart to watch the female walk of angrily out of the street. The fox, who had a long and dirty brown beard, a long tattered rain-coat which looked as if it was barely buttoned up securely, and a similarly looking fisherman's hat. If you saw him, you'd say he certainly looked like a man down on his luck. Which was good, since it meant his disguise was working.

'Blimey... What's eating her?' He thought, as he continued to drag the cart along behind him, knowing that his destination was just up ahead. He was glad this was nearly done, these old clothes were beginning to itch a little, plus it wasn't fun to drag this shopping cart with him, but it had to be done, it was for the good of the mission. If he wanted pay, he had to do this. He knew his employers were very strict about the jobs that they gave him, whoever they were.

The 'beggar' turned a corner into an unlit alley, before turning again but into a small courtyard area, lit only by a tiny light-bulb above a door. The 'beggar' smiled, looking up at the first-floor window in the building the door was the back entrance, moving the shopping cart into position inline with the window. Thank god his employers had supplied this 'especially designed' cart (as they'd described it) for this mission, otherwise it would be too difficult a job, even for him.

He pulled off the tattered gloves he had previously worn, before reaching down into the clothes in the cart. He took out a small packet, which he opened up. He looked at the surgical gloves inside and smirked. He put a pair on; he didn't want to leave any fingerprints, as usual. With the gloves securely on, he pulled out a bunch of keys from his pocket, holding the keys up to his green eyes and selecting a key, before smiling. He carefully walked up to the door, inserting the key into the lock and turning it. The door unlocked. He opened it up, placing the keys back into his pocket and pulling out a black, thin object from the other, before stepping inside. Undefended, just as they'd said.

'The smash part of this job's gonna be easy...' He thought, as he carefully walked through the darkness of the empty room, allowing his developed senses to guide him. He stepped slowly over the wooden floorboards, cautiously feeling out with his free hand, the other gripping the weapon, poised to strike out in an eventually of any surprises. He felt a square like shape with his hand. It felt wooden through his thin plastic glove, as he felt along the shape. It had a little round ball on top. This was the start of a wooden staircase, one that would lead to his objective if his employers were correct, which they had a strange record of being. Without hesitating anymore, he began walking up the stairs.

Looking up, he saw a thick metal door, with a flicker of light coming from the small gap between the bottom of the door and the floor.

'I guess the old man is up past his bedtime'. The 'beggar' thought, walking up towards the door, now confident enough not to care if anyone heard him. He held the slick up in his hand, and used it to hammer on the door. A deadly silence followed. A mumbling. Some shuffling feet, the slow footsteps moving towards the door. It opened, and the 'beggar' looked down at an old grey lizard, which was dressed up in an old fashioned nightshirt (that kind worn by Scrooge in those films at Christmas).

"Who... Who ze 'ell ar' you?" He asked in a strong French accent.  
"You do not know who I am?" The 'beggar' replied in a raspy voice  
"Non."  
"Good." He replied in a sinister tone, sharply bringing the stick around. The old man looked in horror as the last sight he saw before slipping into unconsciousness what that of a black nightstick.

**WHACK!**

**THUD!**

The beggar smirked an evil grin as he looked down at the limp form of the man.

"...The name's Douglas by the way..."

Douglas stepped over the motionless body, looking at the room. There was a table in the centre of the room, and a bed against the furthest away wall. There were also various other items, a bookcase, a record player, and some curtains... He headed over to the curtains of the room and pulling them apart. The shopping cart was there, silently waiting. Douglas smashed the window with his nightstick, sending shards of glass down into the yard below. Douglas looked around, and saw the medium sized safe in the corner. The far corner of the room to the window.

"Damn!" Douglas said, in his normal voice. Douglas turned the table over with force, sending the various items on it scattering onto the floor, as the table collided with the wall next to the bed, splintering it. "It's your own fault for not having a better room..." Douglas sneered down at the old man, lying face down in the floor. Douglas gripped a hold of the safe, preparing to drag it across the room. Positioning himself, he pushed his feet into the floor, pulling the safe forwards. Douglas fell onto his backside, holding the safe high up in his arms as he lied on his back. The safe was the normal size for any, but it seemed light as a feather...

"What the hell is this?" Douglas said, putting down the safe next to the window. "The thing's about as heavy as mail sack..." He looked over at the remains of the table he had broken earlier. "Guess that wasn't needed..." He said in mock-remorse for his actions. "...Meh, who am I kidding? This place needs redecorating anyway! The can afford a damn metal door can't he?" Douglas then picked up the safe, lifting it up to the windowsill. He looked around the safe, looking at the cart below. A safe this size would be no problem to send down into it...

"Hang on..." Douglas thought out loud, "If things so light, why don't I just carry this down the stairs? It'd be a piece of cake to walk down the stairs with this baby in my arms... Nah, I've broken the window, so I might as well use it..." Douglas reasoned, pushing the safe out the window, watching it land safely in the cart below. "...Who the hell am I talking to anyway? Damn it, ever since these weirdoes sent me on these errands..."

Douglas walked out the door, back into the courtyard, pulling his gloves off and putting the tattered ones back on, before covering up the safe with some of the clothes in the cart. Douglas began pushing the cart out of the area, back into the main street he'd travelled up. He noticed that he had to use a bit of his strength to push the cart now.

'When the hell did this safe start getting so heavy?' He thought, moving slowly down the dim street, as he struggled slightly against the increased weight in the cart.

* * *

Location: The Police car park outside the Police HQ in Paris, France, Eastern Europe.  
Time: 23:58  
Weather Conditions: Cloudy sky, Quarter Moon.

'That damn Cooper! This will be the last time that he gets away from me!' Carmelita thought to her self, stepping out of her police car, preparing to head up to her office, when a young pig police officer came running out of the station with what appeared to be a fax in his hand.

"What's the rush Officer?" Carmelita shouted over to the excited looking man.  
"A break in at a retired jeweller's home! They took the whole safe, I'm just on my to check it out Ma'am!" The officer said, saluting.  
"...Carry on." Carmelita replied, not caring, as she walked into the station as the man got into his own car.

'Rookies...' She thought, 'They're never given anything interesting...'

* * *

Location: An abandoned warehouse by the Docks in Paris, France, Eastern Europe.  
Time: 00:00  
Weather Conditions: Cloudy sky, Quarter Moon.

Douglas pushed the cart into the centre of the warehouse, before throwing his hat off to the ground, swiping the sweat of his purple brow.

'By all that's unholy... Why the hell do I get these messed up jobs?' He thought, looking around the empty warehouse. "...Guess I'm early or something..." Douglas' ears pricked up, as heard the churning of iron doors being moved. He turned his head to look at the source of the sound...

**FLASH!**

Two bright headlights turned on, as Douglas shielded his eyes, his vision impaired by the light.

"It's okay boys, it's our man!" A familiar arrogant voice called out, as the headlights dimmed to a less bright beam.  
"Do you ALWAYS have to do that?" Douglas shouted rubbing his eyes to regain his vision.  
"But of course, we can never be too careful, especially in Paris..." Douglas looked at the speaker. He was a rat of black fur, brown eyes, which wore a finely designed suit and black shoes. He carried a silver revolver in his left hand.

"...Always with that gun eh Jason?" Douglas smirked, his vision returned.  
"Of course Mr. Smicktor. I assume you have the...?"

Douglas pulled the clothes of the safe.

"Ah! How could I ever doubt you?" Jason said, smiling warm smile, putting his gun away. Well, as warm a smile as someone that corrupt could manage.  
"You always seem to find a way..." Douglas replied, pulling off his false beard along with the rest of his 'beggar' disguise.  
"I assume that you're glad to be rid of that particular disguise I take it?" The rat said, raising an eyebrow at Douglas' sudden movements.  
"Itched to high hell, and it didn't help my clothes underneath..."

"Any problems?"  
"Just some old guy..."  
"He was dealt with?"  
"He met my good friend here..." Douglas said, pulling out his nightstick and holding up as he pulled the keys out of the other pocket of the coat.

"...Why?"  
"...He was using up my oxygen?" Douglas sarcastically replied as he put his items into the back pockets of the jeans he had worn underneath the disguise; the tone of his voice indicating that he was really saying: 'Do I need a reason?'

Jason laughed. "Ah, that familiar 'mean-streak' of yours, the one that so attracted the attentions of my bosses..."  
Douglas smirked, standing up, now clad in jeans and a T-shirt. "So you tell me..."  
"Get this stuff in the van, including the disguise!" Jason called out, still looking at Douglas.

Two smaller rats, dressed in boiler suits rushed up, and gathered up the discarded clothes, putting them in the cart, before pushing it, with even more difficulty that Douglas had, towards the van they had jumped out of.

"What the heck's with that thing anyway?" Douglas said, pointing at the safe, partially covered with clothing.  
Jason shook a finger at Douglas. "You'll find out in a few days Mr. Smicktor." He said, smirking.  
'Just like always...' Douglas thought in the back of his mind.  
"Until then..." Jason continued, pulling a plump-looking brown envelope out of his suit pocket, and tossing it towards Douglas, who caught it with ease. "This is your payment."

The fox smiled. "Right, I'll be off then..." And with that said, he headed out of the warehouse, pleased with his mission.  
'Just another textbook job...' He thought to himself, heading out of the docks, towards his current home.

Jason smirked as he watched the fox leave.  
'Oh yes, he will make a fine addition, just as predicted...' He thought. 'Who knows how high he could go in the ranks...'

And with that, he turned around and walked over to the van, climbing into the driver's seat, shifting the gear-stick into reverse, and moving the van out of the warehouse as the two rats closed the doors shut. There was no trace left of any meeting, and no sign that there ever would be again. The warehouse was once again silent, with only the light from the moon shining through the broken glass of the windows being the only sign of life...

* * *

Confusing isn't it? Well, that's the way I've got it planned out, but it starts to make sence chapter by chapter, so you'll find out a bit more about Jason and Douglas later. Don't worry about the old guy, he'd not dead. Not that I plan for him to ever reappear. Anyway, this is my attempt at adding to Sly fandom, so comments are greatly wanted. Please review and let me know how I'm doing please, and I'll have the next chapter up soon enough. 


	2. Another Day

Running Like Clockwerk

Written by Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, he's my fan-character so hands off!

Chapter 1 – Another Day

* * *

Location: An apartment in Paris, France, Eastern Europe.

Time: 1034 hours

Weather Conditions: Sunny, cloudless sky.

Douglas yawned as he finished drying out his hair with a fluffy white towel, before securely wrapping it around his waist, walking barefoot out of the bathroom. He turned left, and walked into the large 'main-room' of the apartment that was he temporary home for... who knew how long. The 'main-room' was comprised of a kitchen area running into a sitting area with only a change in texture underfoot from tiles to carpet indicating a change of area. Apart from the obvious visual hints of course.

Douglas shivered as he stepped onto the tiled floor, as he walked over to the little bread-bin handily placed beside the toaster. Flipping up the front, the purple fox reached inside and pulled out two slices of toast, which he placed into the toaster, before pulling the side lever down to switch the machine on. Douglas closed the bread-bin as he walked away, heading back into the bedroom to get changed. He didn't plan on walking through the streets of Paris in nothing but a towel. Especially with no shoes on.

Douglas Smicktor, aged 19 years old, a fox of purple colouring with similarly coloured eyes, average height, well built – indicating someone who works out on at least a semi-regular basis. Describes his profession as a 'Recovery Expert'. In his own mind it just meant finding out where and what object his employer wanted back (it was usually stolen goods he dealt with), getting it back, and delivering it to his employer intact. Identify, collect, return. Sounds easy on paper, but it's more complex than that. Hence the 'Expert' part in his title.

Douglas followed a few simple rules: Never go in unarmed, never go in without a disguise (that includes coloured contact lenses), always have a back-up back-up plan, never get side-tracked, and force can always be necessary. Harsh, but so was his early life. This 'no-nonsense' style, combined with an almost spotless success record made him very well known in crime circuits around the world by word of mouth. His jobs were so well carried out, that there was no trace, no evidence, he was essentially infamous for never existing.

Tieing up the laces of his trainers, he heard the sound of the toaster popping up. He was essentially wearing the same outfit he'd worn underneath the beggar disguise last night, bar the green-coloured contact lenses. His black T-Shirt was a little tight over his chest, showing an outline of his figure through the material, while his jeans were slightly baggy, not showing the fact that they were customised, with deeper and wider pockets than normal jeans, perfect for fitting multiple items in, or his night-stick, which lied poised in his left front pocket, ready to be called out at a moment's notice.

Sure that he was dressed well enough, he then stopped and stood, looking at himself in the mirror. Not vainly, as some do. The look in Douglas' eyes when he stared at his own reflection was such that if anyone were watching him, they would almost certainly assume that he had never seen his own reflection. He was looking at himself, not really knowing who, or what, he was. What he did know though, was what he had become.

Shaking off those thoughts, at least for a moment, Douglas walked out of the bedroom, and directly into the kitchen area, opening a cupboard and pulling out a small plate, upon which he placed a slice of toast, the other one being held in his hand as he blew onto the end of it slightly to cool it down, before taking a bit out of it. A light breakfast for just now, later on he could buy something proper with his latest 'earnings'.

Location: Police HQ, Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox's Office, in Paris France.

Time: 1040 Hours.

The long blue locks of Carmelita's hair was almost snake like as it lay strewn across the Inspector's desk, as she slept face down on the desk, on a half-finished report detailing last night's attempted capture of the criminal nicknamed 'Sly Racoon'. She'd fallen asleep at her desk again; this wasn't even close to being the first time it had happened. Her desk was almost her secondary bed, in the past few months, verging on years, the sandman had visited her more times here than anywhere else. All because of that racoon...

**KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!**

Carmelita's head shot up, as she looked with weary eyes around her, startled out of her sleep by the sudden noise.

"Huh? Wha?"

"Inspector?" A voice came from outside the office. "I've got a message from the Sarge' for you."

"Urgh..." Carmelita's brain digested the information as she made sense of what had happened. Again. "Hang on..." She groggily got up, and walked over to the door. Turning the key in the lock, she opened the door to see a middle-aged pig police officer standing with a file under his arm. He saluted to his superior.

"Ma'am, the Chief said to give you this assignment, he said it would..."

"Keep my mind of the Cooper Case?" Carmelita said, rubbing her eyes, trying to remove the sleep from them.

"Uh... Yes..." The Officer replied nervously. It was no secret to the whole of the French police force that Fox was a little 'over-obsessed' with bringing Sly Cooper to justice.

Caremlita mumbled something under her breath, grabbing the folder from the man, and slamming the door shut angrily. He stood and blinked for a moment at the door in front of him, before deciding that I would be an excellent idea to get away from her office, so he turned around and walked hurriedly away.

Location: Douglas' apartment in Paris, France.

Time: 1215 hours

Douglas opened the door back into his apartment with his open hand, holding a shopping back in the other, and a partially eaten cheeseburger in his mouth. He stepped inside, taking the key out of the lock and closing the door behind him. He walked forward, placing the bag on the kitchen table and placing the key back in his pocket. He grabbed the burger in his right hand, ripping a chunk out of it as he pulled the burger out of his mouth, savouring the taste.

'Mmm... Cholesterol...' Douglas thought to himself

"You'll want to lay off those things Mr. Smicktor, you'll ruin your physique!" He heard a painfully familiar voice, and tone, call to him. Douglas didn't even bother turning to look at the speaker who had intruded into his current home.

"I thought you said a few days?" Douglas said, referring ton the conversation from last night.

"A slight change of plans, Mr. Smicktor. Due to some... Unforeseen circumstances... My superiors have told me to press ahead with the future plans..."

"You mean my next job, right?" Douglas said, arching an eyebrow at the rat, who was still dressed in the same suit from last night, but his revolver was visible. Douglas assumed that some holder underneath his clothes probably held it, like you see in the movies.

"Not exactly my friend, but you could say it will effect your next job..."

Douglas took another bite. "...Care to explain?" He said, through a mouthful.

"Your employers, and my superiors, have been very pleased with the success and speed at which you carry out the tasks given to you; you have indeed earned your 'Recovery Expert' title in their eyes."

"...Right..."

"And they now finally have complete trust in your abilities, which is why they have given myself the authority to answer some of the questions that you will no doubt have about your work."

"..." Douglas chewed another mouthful, studying Jason carefully as the rat's tail dangled carefree over the back of the sofa. "...What's the catch?"

"Catch Mr. Smicktor? The only 'catch' I can think of is that not everyone of your questions will be answered."

"..." Douglas swallowed the mouthful, thinking over what he'd just been told. Six months of these jobs without any real explanation, but great pay and perks, and all of a sudden this?? "...Okay..." Douglas thought of a question, but he had to be careful. He couldn't just ask the obvious ones, Jason wouldn't answer them, he had to try and be clever without sounding like he was...

"...Right then, what was the deal with that safe last night?"

"The safe was a special hi-tech prototype developed by an underground crime team based in Germany. It had a special sensor built into it, which alerted itself when it was taken out a certain area or ranges, in this case the room it was in. While inside the room, the safe was as light as a feather, but once taken out of it, the security system kicks in and it becomes about as heavy as a shopping cart full of house-bricks..."

"As I found out..."

"Yes, quite interesting. That technology will be of great help to my superiors, along with the contents inside of course."

"But what about all the other safes and stuff I've busted out for you guys, they were ordinary..."

"The safe itself was only a bonus this time, but proves the importance of the content within that such a safe was used to secure it!"

"What the hell was in it then??"

Jason smiled, moving off the sofa and pulling an envelope out of a hidden pocket inside his suit as he walked right over to Douglas, so they were standing face-to-face.

"That, Mr. Smicktor, is the question you are looking to answer!"

"Wha... What?"

The rat, still smiling, put the envelope into Douglas' free hand. "You are going on a little trip Mr. Smicktor, and on this trip your sole mission is to answer that question, because when you find that answer, you will find out exactly who you are working for, and what you are part of!"

"...You serious?? How will I..."

"All will be made clear Mr. Smicktor, just obey the instructions inside, and soon enough you'll find yourself face-to-face with the truth, and your future!" Without another word, Jason backed away and started moving to the front door. "Remember Mr. Smicktor, this time it's up to you to find out what you want. If you're as good as my employers want you to be, and are as good as I know you are, this will be a cake-walk for you!" And with that, the rat was out of the door, leaving a confused fox holding a half-eaten burger and what would turn out to be one of the most important missions he's ever attempted.

Location: Police HQ, Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox's Office, in Paris France.

Time: 1652 Hours.

Carmelita smiled to herself. Today she had managed to (almost by accident) uncover a secret base of operations for a crime syndicate in Germany, recovering thousands of Euros worth of stolen goods, and no doubt leading to the capture and arrest of many other criminals. Plus, the media attention pilled on her was also a bonus; it had been a while since she'd gotten such publicity, not since capturing The Fiendish Five...

**BUZZ!**

A loud noise from the 'phone on her desk broke the Inspector out of her trance. She picked up the 'phone and press the 'accept call' button.

"Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox speaking." She answered.

"Inspector, this is Miss. Veronica Palace of the World Police Force speaking."

Out of instinct, Carmelita saluted and stood to attention, nearly knocking the 'phone of her desk, but sheepishly sat back down when she realised that caller couldn't see the salute.

"I understand that you single-handily captured all five members of The Fiendish Five?"

"Yes, yes I did!"

"Excellent, then you are certainly the women I wish to talk to."

"Why... Why is that, if I am allowed to ask Ma'am?"

"Well, you may be very interested in a conference that would not only concern you, but a certain Raccoon Master Thief that you have more than a 'healthy' interest in tracking down..."

"...I'm listening..."

* * *

Oh yes, it is very confusing, isn't it? Wait, I'm sure I said that last time... But now, as I like to do at the end of each of my chapters, I will respond to my reviewers.

Noalyn - Thank you for your constructive comments, it's great to hear people like my work. About the time - I just put it there to set out the fact that the chase and Douglas' mission was happening at the same time, so it won't appear as often from now on (maybe).

Shady Fetish - Thanks for liking my fan-characters, they will play a big part in this, but moreso Douglas than Jason and Veronica (oh yes, we'll see more of her).

Andrew6, Shiek927 & DanRaccoon - Since all of your comments were short and sweet, I'll thank you all collectivly! Cheers for the support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Things will start to move forward in the next chapter, and we'll find out what exactly is in store for Douglas. But how is Sly involved in all of this, and what's this about a conference? You'll have to wait and see... Stay tuned folks...


	3. Flying High

Running Like Clockwerk

Written by Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, he's my fan-character so hands off!

Chapter 2 – Flying High

* * *

Location: Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France, Eastern Europe.

Time: 1232 hours

Weather Conditions: Bright sunshine, mildly cloudy

Douglas felt like a million Euros. The confusion he felt yesterday, holding the package from Jason, was a far distant memory. To say that he'd been pleasantly surprised by the contents inside is a total understatement. Here he was, dressed in a tailor-made Gucci suit, complete with whit shirt, black shoes and sunglasses, with a briefcase in his left hand, and boarding papers tucked into his suit pocket. Oh yes, this was defiantly what they called 'The Life'.

Security had been a breeze. Seeing Douglas dressed as he was, the guards hardly frisked and checked him, so his nightstick was safely tucked away. He couldn't help but smile walking through the check-in waiting areas and terminals, attracting the glances, and then looks, from nearly all around. Normally he'd hate being watched, but for just now, he truly wasn't himself. He was 'Markus Taylor', globetrotting reporter. At least, that's what his orders told him he was.

_'To Douglas Smicktor:_

_Congratulations on your fine work on the last mission. Once again you have succeeded in impressing with every completion. Any doubts that certain people, myself included, had have been squashed flatter than a bug under an elephant's foot! The faith put in you has been a smartly placed investment._

_But to business. The time has come for the silence to end. You have gained our full trust, so you shall be rewarded. You wish to know who we are, what you have been doing, and perhaps why we have chosen you? Then this is the opportunity for you._

_Today, go to the tailors on the business card enclosed. You are expected. You will be fitted out with a custom made suit and accompanying clothing of the finest material, which will also include a customised suitcase. Afterwards, you will purchase the following items from the boutique on the second card: '5 black pens, 5 blue pens, one red pen, 5 HB pencils, two rubbers, a hand-operated voice recorder, 4 tapes (for use in recorder), a small notepad, a pad of lined A4 paper.' You will place these items in the main part of your suitcase, and the rest of this package in the secret compartment._

_You will no longer be Douglas Smicktor now in public. You are Markus Taylor – A young, up and coming journalist, specialising in far-reaching and complicated news stories, more recently in the crime field. Your clothing will speak more volumes than your words will need to, appearances can be so deceiving, as you know._

_The rest of the day you should spend sensibly, so avoid any alcohol etc. Perhaps a well-earned break is what you need after so much work?_

_In this package you will also find a first class 'plane ticket to Russia. Tomorrow you will arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport at fifteen minutes past twelve in the afternoon to check in._

_Should anyone inquire what your business is, reply that you have been told to report on an important Police conference in the hotel you're staying at. The content of this conference is a well-kept secret from the public, so you are in the dark about what it is._

_Upon arriving in Russia, look for a cab-driver holding a sign for 'M. Taylor.' You'll know which is the one. You will be taken to your hotel, where you will check in and go directly to your room. Your 'baggage' (including further instructions) will be waiting for you._

_The rest of this package will not perhaps make sense right now, but I know that you're not an impatient man. Take a look through them, you might find something of interest._

_Keep your eyes open and your ears perked up. You never know when a tiny bit of information will come in useful._

_We will meet soon enough, and I certainly am eager to see the Recovery Expert in person._

_R'_

'Praise indeed...' Douglas thought, remembering the exact words of the document in the package. '...From whoever wrote it...'

Douglas walked towards the small desk placed beside the entrance to the 'tunnel' that would take him onto the aircraft. Beside the desk, a female badger dressed in full flight attendant's uniform was checking the boarding passes. Douglas took off his sunglasses, putting them into his free suit pocket.

'How will I ever get pass this obstacle?' The purple fox thought ironically, handing over his papers to her. Douglas couldn't help but notice that the badger's eyes seem to change from reading his pass to briefly glancing at himself. Douglas smirked. A good suit really can do wonders.

"...Everything seems to be fine here Sir, please enjoy your flight." She said after studying the forms.

"I'm sure I will, thanks to you." Douglas replied with a smile, placing his papers back in his pocket. He noticed as he walked past her that his words managed to make her blush. Either that or she'd suddenly gotten a temperature in her cheeks. Douglas smiled again, looking over his shoulder back. Her eyes were fixed on him. Douglas gave a sly wink to her, causing an even brighter blush to appear.

'About damn time this job had some perks...' Douglas thought to himself, continuing up the tunnel towards the 'plane door.

* * *

Location: Seat D1 (1st Class) in Air Russia Flight 688013 (France to Russia), currently docked in Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris.

Time: 1235 hours

Carmelita sighed as she looked out the window of the 'plane. It seemed that somehow, someway, she was always on the move. To another country, to another case, and another crime scene. It didn't help matters that they always surrounded that ring-tailed rat of a thief one way or another... She frowned at the very thought of the raccoon known as Sly Cooper, the reason behind her sleepless nights and high blood pressure over the past years. He was the thorn in her side, the only black spot on her record. The history behind her and Cooper was widely known, and needed no reminding.

'I just hope this conference is as important as Miss. Palace says it'll be...' Carmelita thought, brushing a loose hair back into place. 'Not that I mind... First class travel!' A small smile formed on her usually cold face. 'It's been a while since I've been in Russia. But at least this time I won't be stuck up a volcano... Or get kissed by a thief...' The smile faded as she shivered at the thought of that humiliating moment when Cooper had forced himself on her, then left her handcuffed to a railing. 'At least I can add sexual harassment to his crimes...'

The Inspector's ears perked up as the sounds of shoes were heard walking along the carpet towards her. 'Easy girl, there are other passengers as well...' The footsteps stopped. Carmelita turned around from the window, facing away from the view of the airport terminal. She found herself looking at a male fox with purple fur and eyes, dressed in an expensive suit and holding a suitcase, who was scanning the seat numbers overhead.

"D... Here we are..." He thought out loud, before sitting down next to her, and placing the suitcase under his seat.

'Gucci eh?' She thought, studying the fox for another moment, before turning back to the window. 'Hope he's not just a money-man...'

Douglas glanced at the person beside him. She was a fox; he could tell by the ears and tail, she also had long blue hair set in a single ponytail. She was dressed in a cream coloured police jacket and matching jeans.

'Looks a lot like that female fox in the picture from the package...' Douglas thought, turning his attention to the first class seating he was in. 'Damn! I've gotta get more jobs like this! I could get very used to this stuff!' He smiled, relaxing into his seat. Take off would be soon, next stop: Russia.

* * *

Location: Seats D1 & D2 (1st Class) in Air Russia Flight 688013 (France to Russia), above Eastern Europe.

Time: 15 minutes after takeoff.

'What better way to spend a flight?' Douglas thought to himself, pouring his chilled sparkling water into the glass on the tray in front of him. 'Drinks... Plenty of legroom... And a hot cop beside me! I couldn't even dream of this stuff a year ago!' He smiled again, taking a sip. It would be a while before the serious business had to start.

Carmelita watched the purple fox. He seemed to be very, very happy for some reason. Every time she'd glanced at him, he was smiling. 'Someone can't be that happy all the time.' She thought. '...Then again, not everyone is a cop like you...' She mentally scolded herself. The fox glanced over, and caught her staring. Carmelita suddenly had an interest in the back of the seat in front of her.

'What's her problem?' Douglas thought. 'She doesn't seem too happy. Maybe it's a fear of heights or something...' Douglas put his glass down on the tray. '...Or maybe she thinks you're a secret agent on a mission to save the world from a megalomaniac doctor who's perfecting a DNA stealing ray gun!' Douglas chuckled a little at his own weird humour. Glancing back over, the female fox had a small smile on her face. The laughter was a little infectious.

"Hey, are you alright?" Douglas broke the silence between them.

"Huh?" Carmelita was a little surprised by the question. "Oh, I'm fine..." She lied.

"...I know that, but how are you feeling?"

"Wha?"

Douglas smirked. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He said, taking another sip of water. "But you don't seem alright, that's all."

"I can look after myself, thank you very much." Carmelita said, a little confused with the person next to her. "I'm a fully trained police Inspector."

"So I'm under arrest for trying to make a person feel better?"

"No, but you are being very trying."

'Oooh, tough customer!' Douglas thought. "Well, if you don't try, you'll never know what'll happen."

"Very optimistic..."

"You have to be when you're a journalist..."

"Journalist?" The Inspector was a little more interested now.

"Yep, that's my trade. Well, not technically a trade I guess, but you know."

"So you're on a story?"

'Yep, defiantly a cop.' Douglas reasoned. "I'm going to report on a Police conference in Russia. Pretty secretive stuff, I don't even know what it's about yet."

'The same conference as me...' Carmelita thought. 'Better not say anything, don't want every press agency in the world on me...' "Oh yes, I've heard about that..."

"I imagine you're on a business trip as well, right?"

'Defiantly a journalist.' The Inspector thought again. "Yes, I'm... Following up an old case of mine."

"Loose ends?"

"More like a whole haircut."

"That bad?"

"Ever heard of a thief called Sly Cooper?"

'Cooper... Cooper...' Douglas thought. 'Damn, Cooper! The Cooper family! If it's THE Sly she's talking about... Then... She must be...' "Wait, are you Inspector Carmelita Fox?"

Carmelita smiled a little. "Well, Carmelita Montoya Fox to use my full name..."

"THE Montoya Fox?? Wow! You're famous!" Despite technically being a criminal himself, he had respect for people either side of the law, especially ones as hot as she was. He mentally hit himself in the head for not recognising her picture from the ones in the package. It also meant that the other three pics were of Cooper and his gang.

She blushed a little. "I just do my job really..."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Fox, I'm Markus Taylor." Douglas offered his hand, which she shook.

"Taylor huh? I'm sorry to say that I haven't heard of you before..."

"You don't need to rub it in, I've heard it before..." He replied ironically

Carmelita giggled a little at him. 'Thank god this guy's not stuck up like all the other suits are! Plus, he is a little on the cute side... This flight might not be so bad after all...'

* * *

Location: The 'Cooper Gang' Van, travelling across Eastern Europe

Time: 1254 hours

"So where are we exactly headed then Bent?" Sly asked, looking over the turtle sat next to him.

"Well Sly, there's an important police conference being held in Russia, and if the information that I have received is correct, which it 98.9 is, then it is of great interest to us..."

"What, we're not even going to do a heist?" Sly seemed a little insulted at the idea of going somewhere and not swiping something.

"Read this Sly, and you'll see why..." Bentley handed the raccoon a printout.

Sly took it, and read through it. He stopped halfway down when a collection of phrases and words caught his eye. "...Yep... Defiantly an interest..."

* * *

Chapter two! I had a lot of fun thinking about the chapters after this one, and not so much fun doing this chapter. A little uninteresting in parts, but isn't everything usually. The next chapter is lots of fun, and probably longer. Oh where will the mystery of Douglas' employers go next huh? We'll find out soon enough.

Quick shout to Noalyn for being the only (one review? I suck! Boo me!! Just kidding, I don't write for reviews, I just write) reviewer for chapter one. Thanks for your support, and I hope you like this chapter. That reminds me, I said that's I'd get rid of the time thing, right? I've decided to keep it! Man I'm evil. No, I just like it. It serves little purpose other than letting me being able to not have to describe everything. Yeah, I'm lazy, but I didn't want to calculate how far away Sly's van was from Paris. This means nothing to you people probably. Ah well, my notes, I'll mess them up as I see fit.

Thanks for reading this, and the next chapter will be up randomly when I stop being lazy and write it. Something to look out for huh? Oh yeah!


	4. Reality Check

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, he's my fan-character so hands off!

Chapter 3 – Reality Check

* * *

Location: A Temporary Office for the World Police Force, Moscow Police HQ, Moscow, Russia  
Time: 17:34  
Weather Conditions: Light snowfall, cold. 

A stale, bored yawn filled the mediocre office. It summed up the mood of its occupant perfectly. The sound emanated from the mouth of the feline in the large chair behind the mahogany work desk. She turned the chair slightly to look out the window was her tail dangled lazily off the back of the seat. Through the dull glaze and slightly frozen exterior of the glass, she saw the same icy view of the snow-capped buildings of the Moscow skyline, and the same snowfall that had made up the weather forecast of the last two days.

The ginger cat let out a sigh. She was bored. Not surprising really, considering her lifestyle and work. Turning her chair back around, the cat leaned forward and rested her left elbow on the desk. Allowing her left hand to cup outwards, she rested her hand into the palm, before pouting her lips to the empty room.  
'How long does a 'plane take these days?' She thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

**BRING-BRINNG!**

The shrill call of the telephone caught her off guard, as her arm flinched in a reflex movement, sending an unprepared head crashing to the desk.  
"OW!" She half-stated, half-swore, steadying herself and regaining her composure.

**BRING-BRINNG!**

The 'phone continued to call out as the cat rubbed her jaw with her right hand, whilst casting a look of loathing towards the communications device.  
"Stupid 'phone…" She cursed, before picking up the receiver. "What?!??" She called angrily down the line.  
"Uh… Miss Palace?" A worried sounding Russian accent asked back.  
"Of course it is! What do you want??"  
"You… You told me to inform you when the flight carrying Miss Fox was coming in to…"  
"Ah, I see!" A more pleased sounding Miss Palace interrupted "Excellent, thank you, and carry on with whatever you were doing." She finished, before putting the 'phone back down before the other voice could reply.

No sooner after putting the 'phone down was it picked back up again though, as the ginger cat clad in an important and influential looking international policewomen's uniform dialled a code into the number pad. The cat waited more patently than she been doing only a minute or so before as she heard the device ring.

"… …Hello, this is Veronica… …Yes, it's coming into land… Yes, I know! It won't matter… Just make sure he gets to the hotel without any trouble… I'm just saying that…! Whatever, it's in your hands right now, just get on with it."  
And with that, the conversation ended. Veronica hung up the 'phone, and rested back into her chair with a broad smile on her face.  
"Just like the boss says: 'You can never know too many experts'!"

* * *

Location: Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 17:40 

'Bloody baggage handlers…' Douglas thought to himself, sidestepping another trolley full of suitcases, holding up his suitcase to his chest. 'What the heck is up with these people anyway??'  
The purple fox shook his head, looking up at the signs full of different languages. 'Jezz… Where's the exit?!?'  
"A little lost?" A familiar female voice asked from behind him.  
"Just a tad" Douglas responded, looking over his shoulder.  
"Let's see…" Carmelita moved beside him. "…Hmmm, this way…" She pointed off towards a doorway beyond a sea of humanity.  
"How do you…"  
"This isn't my first time in Russia, you know." She flashed the fellow fox a smile, before strutting off towards the exit.  
'…Ah.' Douglas thought, following her. 'She must mean the 'Cold Heart of Hate' battle, that must have been a year ago…'

* * *

Carmelita stepped out of the relative warmth of the airport onto the crunching over the layer of snow on the ground. She shivered a little, pulling her jacket closer into herself with her freehand while the other gripped onto the handle of her suitcase. She looked up at the sky, watching the light snow fall from the clouds above.  
'I'd never thought that I'd be back here… But business is business I guess…' She thought, looking around her. 'Hmmm… Where'd that Taylor guy go…' 

Carmelita saw 'Markus Taylor' as he struggled through a collection of excited looked tourists, all with cameras around their necks while pointing at random things in the distance and chattering in a very fast foreign language. She giggled at the sight at the confused looking fox as he escaped the crowd. She was about to call out to him, but his attention seemed to be caught by something else now…

* * *

"…You're me cab driver?" Douglas said, pointing at a man holding a sign with the words 'M. Taylor'. 

"…Of course? How else could it be?" The black-furred rat replied with a smirk. "Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

'Hmmm… Guess he was prepared against the weather…' Carmelita reasoned, watching the fox getting into the taxi cab. 'Speaking of which, there should be some 'police escort' if that Miss Palace was right…'  
"Excuse me Miss." A Russian accent enquired from behind her. 

Carmelita turned to face the voice, and looked down upon a bulldog dressed in a Russian Police Uniform (she remembered the uniform from her previous mission here).  
"There is car waiting to take you to Station."  
"Of course, lead the way please…"

* * *

"Where'd you get this car anyway?" Douglas said, looking over at Jason.  
"Well, you'll be able to figure everything out after this mission my friend…"  
"Oh yes, how can I forget…" The fox replied ironically.  
"In time, all will become clear, then we will all be friends."  
"We?" Douglas raised an eye brow.  
"Oops, I've said too much again…" A strange smile came over the rat's face. "I'm always doing that…"  
"Whatever." 

"So 'Markus', I hope you weren't bored on the your flight here."  
"Oh not at all." This time it was Douglas' time to smile.  
"Really?"  
"It's amazing what information you can pick up from the people, even in first class…"

* * *

Location: Outside the Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 17:53 

"Well, here we are, your temporary abode Sir!" Jason said, pulling up to the front of an expensive looking hotel.  
Douglas whistled. "Damn… A guy could get wayyyy too used to this lifestyle…"  
"Perhaps…" Jason mused.  
"Well, I guess I'd better check-in… God knows what the hell the rest of this 'mission' is like…"  
"Perhaps…" Jason deliberately repeated, but Douglas just shrugged it off as the black rat's usual weirdness.  
Douglas opened the passenger's door, and stepped out of the taxi, closing the door again. Looking around quickly, he ran, briefcase in hand, across the road and into the hotel.

"Good afternoon Sir, can I help you?" A helpful voice of a female badger asked.  
"Why yes…" Douglas said. "…I'm here to check in, my name is Markus Taylor."  
"Let me see…" She said, taking her eyes off the fox to look at the computer screen on the desk she was behind.  
'Funny, I'm feeling a sense of deja-vu here…' Douglas thought.  
"…Ah yes, here we are!" She confirmed, opening a drawer in the desk. "Room 302. Your luggage is already there for you."  
"Ah yes…" Douglas said, while mentally remembering the letter from 'R'. "Thank you very much."  
"I hope you enjoy your stay here."  
"Oh, I'm sure I will…" Douglas said, smiling. "…Thanks to you." He added, before turning away and heading towards the nearby elevator.  
'…Now I've defiantly used that line before I'm sure.' He thought, pressing the button to call the elevator. Just to check, he looked over his shoulder back to the welcome desk. She was looking back at him, resting her head on her hand in an almost dream-like fashion.

**TING!**

The elevator bell sounded out, and the doors slid open, as Douglas stepped inside, but not before sending a wink over to the badger.  
'Oh that's always a winner.' Douglas joked to himself, pressing the button for level three.

* * *

Author notes: Wow! I finally updated something! Damn real life... Not much to say here, but the next chapter will be longer (time-scale wise) and speed the plot along alot. As I like to say, stay tuned.

Thanks to Pharaoh Man, Shady Fetish, Noalyn, and RandomFerret for reviewing. I lovez you all. In response to what 'paring' I'm going to use, I do have one that I plan to use, but that doesn't mean that I won't use others... There will be Sly/Carmelita stuff happening, that's for sure. Right, now to work on the next chapter... Woe is me...


	5. Five Minutes in Moscow

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, he's my fan-character so hands off!

Chapter 4 – Five Minutes in Moscow

* * *

Location: The Rooftops of Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 17:51  
Weather Conditions: Light snowfall, cold.

With an awe-inspiring combination of back flips, handstands, and similarly athletic manoeuvres, the master thief Sly Cooper made his way silently across the snow covered roofs of the buildings making up the Moscow skyline. It hadn't been too long since he'd left Bentley and Murray in the van. He was only out to 'check out the area', after all.

'Ah… Moscow.' Sly thought as he leapt effortlessly across a gap between buildings. 'I didn't have enough time to look around here the last time I was in Russia. But tomorrow will be the perfect for killing some time before the conference.'

"Sitting Duck? Do you read me Sitting Duck?" Sly heard the voice of his turtle friend call his 'codename'.  
"I read you 'This Lard'." Sly smirked as he replied, the transmitter allowing him to freely move and communicate at the same time.  
"What? No, I'm 'The Wiz-ard', remember?"  
"Yeah, I copy. 'Hitting Luck' and 'It's Hard', no problem."  
"No no no! You've mixed them up again, it's… HEY! You're doing this on purpose again, aren't you??" Bentley had twigged that Sly was having a little fun at the turtle's expense.  
"Moi? Vous sûrement devez être confondu!" Sly replied, still grinning as he brought himself to a stop on a perched position on the edge of a block of flats.  
"Well listen 'Monsieur' Cooper, I want to know where you think you're going to?" Sly detected a hint of annoyance in Bentley's voice.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, what on earth are you doing right next to the Moscow Police HQ?!??" Bentley practically yelled at the racoon.  
"Oh! That…" Sly smiled a little uneasily. He had been busted, thankfully not by the police, as if that would ever happen. "Well, I just planning on…"  
"Carmelita!" Sly heard Murray's voice call out from the other end of the radio link.  
"Exactly!" Bentley stated. "You're going after… Huh? Murray, what in the name of the Crown Jewels of England are you wearing that for??"

Sly tilted his head slightly, confused and interested by the conversation that he was now listening in on.

"What do you mean, Citizen Bentley? This is The Murray's almighty attire, designed to strike fear into the black hearts of villains!"  
"Quit fooling around Murray! Take that stuff off at once!"  
"And reveal The Murray's true identity? A superhero does no such thing!" Murray sounded offended by the request.  
"Super what??"  
"The Murray shall protect the innocent, stand up for justice, and fight the good fight!"  
"Did you eat those out-of-date jelly babes?" Bentley didn't seem to believe in what he was seeing.  
"Behold! Utilising unearthly superpowers, The Murray will take flight around the city!"

Sly then heard the sound of doors opening, which he assumed were the back doors of the van.

"YOU'LL WHAT?!??" Bentley shouted, along with the sound of a chair falling over. "Get back here you fool, before you hurt yourself!!" The turtle's frantic calls faded into the distance, as Sly shook his head, laughing to himself.

"Oh man, those two never cease to amaze me…"

At this time, Sly looked downwards, and he noticed a lone figure standing outside the police station, looking up and down the street, while holding something up to her ear.

* * *

Location: Outside the entrance to the Moscow Police HQ, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 17:53 

"So he's arrived safely?" Veronica Palace spoke into a mobile 'phone as she stood in a warm furry coat, glancing around her. "Good. Yes, the plan goes ahead. Just keep tabs on him, we'll find out if the rumours are true or not… Wait, here she comes." The cat noticed a police car pulling up. "We'll talk later."

She hung up the 'phone, and placed it in her pocket. She took a step back as the car stopped, and the rear passenger door opened up. Veronica smiled, recognising the figure stepping out of the vehicle.

"Miss Fox! I see you've made it into Moscow alright." The cat greeted.  
"Yes, I did Miss Palace." Carmelita returned the greeting.  
"Oh please, let's cut out all this formal business shall we? Just call me Veronica, okay?"  
"Oh, okay." The fox was slightly taken aback by this request (she always liked to do things by the book), but she dared not refuse to carry out a request from her superior.  
"Besides, it is getting a dark now, and I'm sure you don't want to be stuck around here in the cold."  
"Of course not."  
"With the conference just a day away…"  
"A day? I thought it was…"  
"Ah yes, unfortunately circumstances beyond our control have pushed it back from tomorrow 'till the day after. Actually, it has something to do with the case you dealt with in Paris before you were assigned here."  
"You mean the hi-tech safe that got stolen?"  
"Well, the contents of the safe to be more precise. It appears that it contained…"

"Well well, I guess that it's a small world after all, wouldn't you say Carmelita?"

The sound of the interrupting voice made Carmelita stand rigid. "Cooper." She half-sneered, slowly turning around, to see the fox standing on top of a parked car by the opposite side of the street, with his familiar cocky smile on his face.  
"And a hello to you too." Sly quickly remarked, poking fun at the fox's unfriendly greeting. "Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?"  
"I can 'introduce' myself, but I don't think you should have the pleasure of it." The cat spoke for herself.  
'Sly Cooper!' Veronica thought. 'I should've know he'd be here for the damn conference!'

"Tsk, are all females in the police always this touchy about everything?"  
"Only when low-down thieves are around." Carmelita replied.  
"Ah Carmelita, if only your heart wasn't always as cold as the snow here." Sly began his usual flirting/taunting/annoying of Carmelita.  
"Oh, I'm sure it would 'warm' my heart to have you locked-up for the rest of your life." Carmelita crossed her arms, trying to ignore what Sly really meant by his words.  
"Inspector Fox, I could very easily find much better ways to 'warm' that heart of yours. And my ways are much more fun too."  
Carmelita raised an eyebrow. "In your dreams Ringtail."  
"How did you know?" Sly coolly replied.

The fox then had a look on her face which was a general blend of disgust, amazement, slight amusement, that 'I can't believe he just said that' look, that 'I should have seen that one coming' look, and interest.

"Come on, what's really the problem with me?" Sly pressed on, knowing that 'the ball' was defiantly in his court right now.  
"Apart from the fact that you've broken numerous laws, stolen thousands of priceless artefacts, paintings, and jewels, and numerous counts of resisting arrest?" Carmelita ran off the reasons as if they were tattooed into her mind.  
"I guess those could be seen as 'bad' qualities in a person." Sly shrugged his shoulders.  
"Not to mention one instance of sexual harassment." The fox also added.  
"Harassment? I seem to recall you enjoying that kiss…"  
"I DID NOT!!" Carmelita quickly snapped, interrupting the racoon.  
"Oh, you did." Sly was unfazed by the intense response he got. He actually liked it a little. "The last time we were here in Russia, don't you remember? It was an unorthodox date, but we did everything together…"  
"What?!??"  
"To think, it was barely nine months ago since I took down the Fiendish Five, and you took all the credit, although we did beat Clockwerk together…"  
"You were lucky you caught me off guard and took advantage of me, that's all!"  
"Took advantage? You should know Carmelita that I am a gentleman, although I do admit I occasionally have the odd thought about what to do certain things with you. There was this one where…"

Sly was caught off by having to dodge a flying ball of energy, as Carmelita fully snapped, firing round after round off from her stun gun at the racoon. Veronica could only look on amazed at the sight, as the fox chased the thief up and over the rooftops, shooting like there was no tomorrow.

"Follow them!" Veronica ordered the police car. "When she's stopped, take her to her hotel!"

Veronica watched the car light up and sound it's sirens, taking off after the chase. The cat simply stood, shaking her head.

'How the hell did the Fiendish Five get beaten with enemies like that??' She thought to herself.

* * *

Location: Room 302, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia  
Time: 17:55 

**CLICK!**

The lock opened, and Douglas opened the door into the room. Upon entering the room, Douglas titled his head a little at what he saw.

'…No welcoming committee?' He thought, closing the door behind him, and looking around once again. He was expecting another one of his 'boss' clients' to inform him about what he'd have to do next, but there was no such thing.

There were a few luggage cases, as had been 'delivered', and an envelope on the centre of the bed.

'This might be it…' Douglas presumed, walking towards it and placing his suitcase on the bed as he sat on it

Douglas picked the envelope up, and carefully opened it. The fox pulled out a piece of paper from it, and, after unfolding it, he began to read the words printed upon it.

'_Douglas:_

_Your objective is too answer a question which I'm sure you have pondering to your self for quite a while now - Who have you been working for?  
__To do this, you must answer a question directly associated with the above - What have you been recovering?_

_You will be attending a Police conference in two days time as Markus Taylor. It will be for your own benefit to take down as much relevant information as you feel is necessary, as it will help you answer the question._

_After the conference, you should reach under your seat and detach an envelope from the bottom of it. When you have a safe time to do so (i.e. when you are alone and unwatched) write down who you have been working for. _

_If you answer correctly, and I'm sure you will, then there will be no more secrets. Only opportunities, glory, and success._

_- R_

_P.S. Don't worry about the costs of meals during your stay at your hotel, it has been taken care of.'_

'…Two days? What the heck am I gonna do for two days?' Was Douglas' only thought at this moment. It was a long time to wait, and he had been waiting for long enough.

Glancing around his room, he noticed bright flashes of light coming from the window doors. Intrigued, he walked over to them, and opened them, stepping out onto the balcony. Looking down, he noticed what appeared to be a strange rooftop chase between two people, one of which was firing blobs of light at the other.

'Odd…' Douglas thought. 'Reminds me off Paris somehow…'

* * *

Author Notes: There's actually a good reason for this chapter being late. I completely re-wrote it to have less Douglas and more Sly & Carmelita. I just starting thinking about stuff and thought, why not? I was laughing me head off, I'll tell you. 

Thanks to Noalyn, Ian Bradley& OldSchoolSonic for reviewing. Is it just me or are people violent around me? My ideas get stolen (although then not used which is cool), I'm sent pretend nasty e-mails, and... Fruitcakes?!?? 0-o Okay, okay, I'm kidding people, I'm kidding. Respect to all my reviews, keep those reviews coming in. Please. I need brain-food. That is all.


	6. Coincidence?

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor; he's my fan-character so hands off!

Chapter 5 – Coincidence?

* * *

Location: Room 302, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 09:30 

**BRING-BRING! BRING-BRING!**

Douglas groaned, turning over onto his side, his face scrunching up in pain from the sharp sound of the telephone ringing. Opening his eyes slightly, he could see sunlight peeping through the curtains. It was morning.

"...Where'd my dream go..." The purple fox half-mumbled. "...Or gone, I want it back..."

**BRING-BRING! BRING-BRING!**

Mumbling something probably very offensive towards the caller, he sat up, pushing the bed covers from his body, and reached over towards the 'phone. Picking up the receiver, he held it to his ear.

"Hello?" Douglas said, half ready to state a combination of expletives that might shock Satan himself, and even more so if it was Jason calling.  
"Mr. Taylor, this is your morning wake-up call!" A cheery female voice replied.  
'I will hurt Jason for this.' Douglas thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 'Badly.' He added.  
"Thank you." Douglas replied, although somewhat flatly and not really meaning it.  
"No problem Sir, have a nice day!"  
"Yeah, you too."

Douglas hung up the 'phone, and shook his head.  
"I really, really, REALLY, hate that damn rat!" He stated to the empty room. "...I wonder if breakfast is being served?" His thoughts switched to his empty stomach, along with other things that were resting on his mind.

He had taken the time since entering his hotel room last night to think over the last few days' events, and the items that had been supplied to him. Mainly the pictures.

4 pictures, and although there was nothing wrong with the quality of them, it was the persons pictured that raised interest.

Sly Cooper - The infamous master thief, and the current branch in the Cooper family tree. His family's legacy is well etched into the stones of time, and there was no mistaking that he is one of the best around, possibly ever.

Bentley and Murray - The other members of the Cooper Gang. The brains and the brawn. Rumour has it (or so Douglas had heard) that Sly meet them at an orphanage he was put at when The Fiendish Five killed his father, and they'd been friends ever since. Supposedly, they serve as the back-up team, rarely venturing out of the legendary Cooper Van, but read to make a quick getaway whenever it's needed.

Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox - One of Interpol's finest officers. She known by the crime world as being 'Sly's Stalker'. She's been after Cooper for years, and come up short every time, and her 'interest' in the Cooper Gang (and most likely Sly himself) borders on obsessive.

Douglas looked at the four photos, and picked up the one of Carmelita.

'This is weird...' He thought, looking at the photo. 'Why would whatever criminal gang I'm working for put me next to a police inspector on a 'plane ride?'

But for Douglas, this was just another issue that could wait. Tomorrow was when all these questions supposedly would be answered. All he had to worry about was what he was going to do with this free day he had.

Douglas smiled a little, looking over to the suitcase of luggage that he had been given.

'I wonder if my breakfast-ware has been packed?' He joked to himself, forgetting that he was still holding the picture of Carmelita in his hand.

* * *

Location: Third floor, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 09:50 

Douglas, now more awake than he was twenty minutes ago, and dressed in a casual suit, walked a short distance from the door to his hotel room to the elevator, and pushed the button to call the lift. He took a step back, glancing around him, waiting for the arrival of the elevator.

**TING!**

A bell rang out, and Douglas glanced upward at the floor indicator, just to check. He turned his eyes back to the sliding open doors. And a pleasant surprise.

"Why, Mr. Taylor, we meet again."  
"Yes we do Inspector Fox." Douglas smiled as he stepped into the lift.  
"Please, just stick with Carmelita. I'm off duty today." She returned the smile.  
"Off duty?" The purple fox said, but with a look on his face that didn't believe what she said.

Douglas had every right to be amused. Carmelita was dressed up in her usual Inspector uniform. The brown leather jacket, the blue top and pants, and even the same necklace that showed off her Interpol badge.

"What?" Carmelita didn't seem to see what was wrong with her clothing. "You never know when your next arrest is going to happen."  
'Geez, she IS obsessed with her work.' Douglas thought.  
"Right..." Douglas said. "Spend a day off on duty, yeah that works..."  
'Oh, you want me to lighten up huh?' Carmelita thought, as she put her hands on her hips, watching 'Markus' push the ground floor button. 'Let's see him handle this then...' A coy smirk appeared on her face.

"So, I assume that you're going down, right?" Carmelita asked.  
"Ah, yeah, ground floor." Douglas replied, although there with a hint in her question that caught Douglas a little off-guard. "Get some breakfast, ya'know?"  
"Oh really? That's interesting..." Carmelita smiled, stepping forward towards the purple fox.  
"Huh?" Now Douglas wasn't sure what was happening. "Why's that?" He said, moving back, but only found himself backed into a corner of the lift.  
"Because..." Carmelita was now standing right in front of Douglas, so that their eyes were level to each other. "...The main course happens to be right here..."  
'Oh god.' Douglas thought, now looking slightly concerned about the current situation. 'Calm down man! You shouldn't have even talked to her on the 'plane! She's a cop! This is way too dangerous!'  
"Um, Miss Fox, this really shouldn't be happening. You know, with me being a reporter and you're a..."

Douglas' voice trailed off, as Carmelita leaned forward towards him, her hands resting on the walls either side of the corner. Douglas, for one of the few moments in his life, was speechless. He had never been this close to a female, ever.

Which is why Douglas gulped, nervously.

"...Main courses usually happen at dinner anyway..." Douglas managed to say, in a pitch a little higher than he normally speaks with. And a lot faster.  
"That's true." The Inspector said, knowing she was in control of this situation. "But that can be arranged as well..."  
"H... How...?" Douglas stuttered, a red flush coming to his cheeks  
"There's a police ball happening tonight, to publicize the conference tomorrow; and I just happen to have an invitation free for someone one to come along with me..."

**TING!**

Upon hearing that sound, Carmelita moved away from Douglas as if nothing had happened. She turned away from him and casually watched the doors slide open.

"Unless you've got any better plans..." She tossed the comment over her shoulder as she calmly walked out of the lift, leaving a fox behind who's jaw was on the floor.

'...Every sane part of me is telling me no...' Douglas was barely able to think. "...But damn! If I'm gonna pay for this later, it'll be worth it...'

Douglas stumbled past the people getting into the lift, before catching up with Carmelita. While trying to look as unflustered as possible.

Carmelita, on the other hand, was smiling broadly. She hadn't had this amount of fun in years.

* * *

Location: The street opposite the Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 09:54 

"Brrr! I can't believe how hard it is to find Grade-L Trans-Global Cells around here!" Bentley lamented to himself, treading carefully through the snow. The turtle was holding the straps of his rucksack as if his life, and not his computer, depended on it.

'I wouldn't have to do this...' Bentley thought. '...If I wasn't placing Sly under 'house-arrest', and I can't trust Murray while he is this 'superhero' phase...'

Bentley sighed to himself, glancing around. Being the brains of the gang wasn't always an advantage. Especially with Sly always jumping at the chance to go after Inspector Fox more than a heist, and with Murray being... Murray...

Bentley paused for a moment. Something in the building on the other side of the street had caught his attention through the lenses of his spectacles.

'...That's Inspector Fox!' He saw her though the window of the hotel. 'I'd better get out of here before... Wait... Who's that with her?' The turtle was referring to the male fox sitting at the table she was. 'Now this is very intriguing! My psychoanalytical profile of Miss Fox stated that the probability of anything of this nature was estimated to be the same as that of the sun freezing over in 1543! This requires further investigation...'

* * *

Location: Dining Hall, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 10:00 

"No way! Cooper actually said that to you?" Douglas prevented a forkful of scrambled eggs from entering his mouth as he instead digested the tale of Carmelita's chase from last night.  
"He had the nerve to say every word." The Inspector stated, spreading another slice of toast.  
"I guess that guy pushes his luck a lot then?"  
"You wouldn't believe it. Every time I track him down, he seems to get more annoying. And determined to escape capture. I'm just glad I didn't have to explain anything to Palace." Carmelita then bit into her toast.

'I didn't think Sly Cooper would be this cocky!' Douglas thought to himself, finally placing the eggs into his mouth. 'I mean, I've only heard rumours about him and his gang, but this blows everything into orbit!'

"It's almost as if he was put on this planet just to aggravate me!" Carmelita added after eating her mouthful.  
"How long did you say you've been after him?"  
"Too long." Was her response. Douglas wisely decided not to question that issue any further.

The two foxes continued to eat and converse, as if they'd known each other for years. Neither noticed the person sitting at the table nearest to them, hiding his face behind a newspaper. Which strangely had two holes in them, which allowed the lenses of a modified Binocucom to watch, photograph, and record the two.

* * *

Location: A dimly light room in a disused sewer system, underneath the streets of Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 13:12 

"YOU IDIOT!!" The rat screamed at the weasel being held up by the arms by two burley pit bulls, both of whom were carrying torches.  
"But... But I didn't mean it too happen..." The weasel stuttered. He was having trouble talking. The reason for this was connected to why he looked beaten up.  
"Do you have any idea, ANY IDEA AT ALL, of how much this operation could have been jeopardised by your INCOMPETENCE?!??" The look on the black furred rat's face showed he was serious. And ready to fully explode at any moment.  
"But... But it wasn't my fault... I mean, there wasn't enough time to book another flight for him with the schedule change! I didn't know he'd be sitting next to a cop!"  
"It wasn't any old cop you fool! It was Inspector Fox! That alone is deadly enough to us!"

**BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!**

"For the love of... Hold him." The rat ordered the pit bulls. He turned away from the other people in the room, and took out a small radio-communicator in his jacket pocket. "Jason here... What? ... HE WAS WHAT?? HAVING BREAKFAST WITH HER?? LUNCH TOO?? ... WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S NOT ALL?!?? HE'S GONNA WHAT?!?? SHIT!!"

Jason shoved the radio back into the pocket, and put his other hand into a holster concealed inside his jacket.

"Thanks to your STUPIDITY!" He turned to glare at the weasel. "We now have an extremely dangerous situation on our hands. One that involves our friend Mr. Smicktor attending an event, that's likely to be filled with only, DAMN NEARLY EVERY COP IN THE CITY!!!"  
"What'll we do Jason?" One of the pit bulls bravely asked.  
"Well, I'll have to report to everyone about this... Possible incident... But it looks like I'll have to remind Mr. Smicktor just what the hell he's doing here..."  
"What about this guy?" The other guard questioned.  
"Oh, don't you worry..." Jason's hand in his coat came out, holding a sliver revolver. "You know the policy laid down by our leaders for failure..."

The weasel could only look helplessly in horror as Jason lowered the gun towards him.

**CLICK!**

**BANG!**

Now the weasel could only be dead.

* * *

Location: Safe house of the Cooper Gang, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 18:12 

"All right guys, we are set for action!" Bentley was beaming, his glasses almost shining proudly after working hard at devising a new plan. The turtle rushed as fast as his little legs could carry him, as he set up his slide-projector.  
"Is that what we're here for?" Sly questioned. "The conference is tomorrow..."  
"I am well aware of that Sly, but I have discovered an event happening tonight, which could provide us with some useful information!"  
"So that's why you've locked yourself away all day." Sly smirked.  
"Precisely."  
"What's the situation Citizen?"

Sly and Bentley turned to see their hippo friend Murray, or 'The Murray' as he seemed to be calling himself. He was dressed up in his driving gear, but was using a white towel as a makeshift cape, his racing mask and driving goggles as a mask, and his driving gloves as... Gloves.

"Uh, just take a seat, and I'll, explain more..." Bentley said.  
"No problem, I only hope this innocent seating appliance can withstand my hulking frame." Murray stated, sitting down on a wooden chair.

Sly had turned his back to the hippo, so he wouldn't see the racoon chuckling to himself.

"...Okay guys, here's what I've found out..." Bentley took the situation back to some kind of civilised conversation. The turtle flicked off the light switch, and turned his projector on.

The first slide was that of a large ballroom, with some police standing outside.  
"I've learned that to publicise, promote if you will, the all-important conference tomorrow..." Bentley provided commentary for the slideshow. "Interpol, working with other organisations, are putting together a 'Party' tonight."

The slide changed to a banner on the building, written in Russian.  
"It's extremely probable that almost every high-ranking police employee in the country, and at least those involved with tomorrow's events will be in attendance."  
"Sounds risky, and probably dangerous." Sly stated.  
"I thought you'd be interested somehow..." Bentley rolled his eyes. "...Which makes you perfect for this little recon' mission."  
"You want me to infiltrate the party and see if I can find anything out?" Sly titled his head slightly, looking at his turtle friend.  
"...Essentially, yes."  
"No problem." Sly flashed a confident grin.  
"Good, because here is what you'll need to do..."

The next slide was of a high up window of the building.  
"After taking a quick look at the plans of the building, easily accessed from the Moscow Library, this window is the weak spot of the security. You'll still need to sneak past the spotlights and guards that will no doubt be in place to get to it though."  
"I'll take care of that." Sly reassured Bentley. "Then what?"

"Then you'll need to attach a Splice Clip into each of the security consoles on the top level." Bentley switched to a photo of a computer with flashing lights and lots of confusing looking buttons. "I'll be able to hack into the systems to shut them down."

The next slide was a shot of the central ballroom, showing janitors setting up tables and chairs.  
"You should be able to take some reconnaissance photos of the main-players."  
"You mean with my 'Spy-Cam' upgrade?"  
"Yes, we should give it some more fieldwork, just to work out any bugs."  
"How will Sly get any info from there? It's all cops." Murray stated.  
"Yes, well, we'll have to do some 'convincing' on some people..." Bentley began.  
"Excellent! The Murray will squash all those who..."  
"NO!" Bentley interrupted. "No! We can't too many risks with so many law enforcers..."

Bentley pressed the button of his projector, switching to the next slide. It was a shot of Carmelita fox, looking around in an alleyway.  
"Huh?" Bentley was confused. "That's not right, where's that slide?"

The next slide was again of Carmelita, but a close-up of her face.  
"What's going on here?" Bentley was more confused.

The next slide was once again Inspector fox, and was a close up again. But not of her face, which caused Bentley to scream out.

"SLY!!!"  
"Ah, that's where those went..." Sly smirked, a rather embarrassed flush coming to his cheeks.  
"I've told you not to waste film like that!" Bentley scolded.  
"All right all right, just let me keep those pics..."  
"Ah, here we are."

The slide changed to a picture of a hotel table, with Inspector fox talking to another fox over breakfast.  
"As I was trying to say!" Bentley said, the annoyance coming through clearly. "The clearest source of information would seem to be Miss Fox, but since Sly can become 'distracted' around her..." The turtle cast a disapproving look at the racoon, who pretended to ignore Bentley's comments.

The slide changed to the same scene, but the male fox seemed to say something that amused Carmelita, who was laughing.  
"I've discovered something very interesting about this gentleman here."  
Sly took a good look at the picture. "Who's this guy?"  
"That's the thing Sly..." Bentley said, a little smile coming to him. "He's registered at the hotel the conference is being held at tomorrow as a mister 'Markus Taylor'. A respected news-reporter and journalist..."

The slide then changed to one of the male fox, but in a totally different setting. Standing next to a brick wall, he was wearing a black hooded top, and was holding a nightstick in his hand.  
"...But a quick look at ThiefNet shows that he's actually Douglas Smicktor, the 'Recovery Expert'!"  
"Smicktor? That name rings a bell."  
"Well, something tells me that the only reason that a guy like Smicktor would be talking to Inspector Fox would be for information. Plus the fact that 'Markus Taylor' has been added to the guest list for tonight's party..."  
"I get it, if anyone not on the force would know anything, it would be him."  
"Precisely. Now, as for you Murray, what I'll need you to do is..."

As Bentley started to tell 'superhero' his part in the upcoming operation, Sly moved himself up to the projector and turned it back a couple slides. He looked at the picture of the two foxes at the breakfast table. As much as he enjoyed annoying Carmelita, seeing her smile was a rare treat.

But he wasn't too pleased that someone else was making her smile.

* * *

Location: Outside Room 504, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow.  
Time: 18:25 

"Stupid tie..." Douglas grumbled, trying in vain to stretch out the neck area of his shirt. It seemed to be taking pleasure out of cutting most of the oxygen from the rest of his body. "Goddamn whoever invented formal dress..." He cursed having to walk around in yet another suit.

Douglas sighed, knocking on the door.  
"Who is it?" A female voice inquired from within.  
"It's Markus!" Douglas replied.  
"Just a minute!" The voice responded.

Douglas stepped back, looking at his watch, expecting to wait another half-hour. A stereotype yes, but Douglas had up until this point little experience with women. Apart from one particular 'psycho' that he liked to forget about.

The door clicked, snapping his thoughts back to reality.

Carmelita stepped out, her hair pristine and sparkling and clad in a black dress that made her look able to paralyse almost every red-blooded male on the planet. The fact that she still wore her police badge necklace didn't matter. Most men wouldn't be looking at her neck.

Douglas was speechless, which made Carmelita smile.  
"You okay?" The Inspector asked, razing an eyebrow.  
Douglas shook himself out of his trance. "Huh? Wha? Oh, yes, I mean..."  
"Come on, let's go." Carmelita offered the purple fox her arm to walk down the corridor. Douglas would have been a fool to refuse.

'I take back what I said about formal dress...' Douglas thought to himself, as the foxes headed for the elevator.

As the two walked away, they did not notice the watchful eyes of a certain rat at the other end of the corridor.

"...I can see the appeal..." Jason whispered, transfixed on the female fox.  
"Jason? You there?" A female voice crackled through the radio he was holding. "Any clues why Smicktor's doing this?"

Jason could easily answer the question.

"...Black... Dress..."

"MEN!" The female voice roared back, but cutting off the transmission.

* * *

Author Notes: Before anyone starts throwing bricks at me and saying Carmelita was a bit out of character here, it's done for a reason, that will only surface later. Also, the conferenceWILL happen, in the next 2 or 3 chapters, then, as I like to put it, 'Things Will Start Exploding!'

Thanks toOldSchoolSonic(yeah, there was fruitcakes here also, but the next chapter will have some explosions and chasing), Noalyn(Veronica will feature more, just wait and see) and Andivari(Is it because I'm putting the 'u' in colour? I'm Scottish, that's my excuse. Either that or I'm putting in mistakes on purpose.)

Okay, that's all for now. Next up: The party, Sly and Douglas meet, and the morning after. Oh, by the way, I've decided to include Neyla in this fic under a flash of utter genius. Wait and see...


	7. Shared Interest

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, Jason and Veronica Palace; they are my fan-characters, so hands off!

Chapter 6 – Shared Interest

* * *

Location: Outside the Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow, Russia  
Time: 18:55

With a jump off the the rooftop, and a mid-air flip, the raccoon spun sharply in a full circle, landing effortlessly on a thin telephone wire strung high across the street. As soon as he landed, he was running without fear along the rope to the ledge of the building opposite.

Reaching the end of the cable, Sly hugged himself tightly to the building. His body was straight at attention, and his arms were folded criss-crossed over his chest in an 'X' shape. One of his hands securely holded onto his cane, one of his most faithful companions.

With a brief look around him, Sly began sliding sideways along the small ledge. With every step he took, he moved to the tune of a strange violin plucking sound. Not that he minded, it was a Cooper trait.

With ease, the master thief reached the ledge's end, where he jumped and grabbed onto a pipe. This served to be Sly's ladder, as he used it to climb upwards.

With another jump and flip combination, Sly Cooper was on the roof of the building. Glancing around him to check that the coast was clear, he walked over to the shining blue holographic marker of the Cooper family crest. Upon reaching it, Sly almost automatically took out his Binocucom. Looking into the viewfinder, he saw his own face along with Bentley's in the corners of the display,

"Okay Bentley..." Sly began, looking at the Grand Central Ballroom. "Where do I go from here?"  
"Well Sly..." The turtle started to explain. "The security on the ground here is top notch!"

Sly zoomed in to look at the main entrance to the building, which had 2 tough-looking bouncers standing guard.  
"That renders a regular entry, of course, impossible." Bentley concluded.  
"Fine..." Sly zoomed out to again look over the whole building. "But how do I get in?"  
"I'm just getting to that. Now, despite all that security, they have overlooked one particular method of entry - An aerial assult!"

Sly tilted upwards, looking at the sky.  
"Bentley, in all seriousness, unless you're packing a helicopter, I don't think that's going to work."  
Bentley sighed. "Remember the 'weak spot' window we discussed earlier?"

Sly brought his view back to the high window that Bentley had shown him before, which he zoomed into. "Yeah, I remember."  
"That window entry point can be easily accessed by using the rooftops and the power cables that connect them."

Sly looked over to a cable that was strung from the roof he was on over to one diagonally opposite, which would require Sly to run over the fountain area that made up the square in front of the ballroom.  
"Just watch out for those searchlights pointing up to the sky! Get caught in the beam of one of those, and we can forget about this operation!"

"Wait, I'm confused." Sly zoomed over to one of the wires, which had a searchlight periodicly moving over it. "Why are the lights searching the sky if they aren't expecting anyone to drop in on their party?"  
"They aren't; and they aren't, so to speak." Bentley stated. "Those lights are just for show, they don't serve any security purpose."  
"Just like a Holywood première." Sly smirked.  
"...A suitable assumption. But I'd rather not take any risks of having your silhouette against the night sky. Especially with Inspector Fox in the building."

"Don't worry, I'll be into this party in no time." Sly reassured his friend.  
"That's what worries me." Bentley replied, concluding their conversation.

* * *

Location: The Central Function Room, Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 18:55 

Veronica smiled, looking around her. This party had been an eventful-less success so far, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.  
'They have no idea...' She thought to herself. 'No idea at all, that tomorrow, I will drop THE biggest bombshell since the Fiendish Five went down!'

"Oh come on Markus! I just want to introduce you to one more person!"  
"Seriously Carmelita! I think I've met enough people to last a lifetime!"

The cat's ears perked up, looking over her shoulder, she saw Inspector Fox of Interpol, practically dragging...

'Oh god.' She thought. 'It's HIM!'

"Veronica! There you are!" Caremlita was smiling as she walked over with a purple fox. "Veronica, this is Markus Taylor, and Markus, this is Veronica Palace of the World Police Force!"  
"Uh, yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you." Douglas smiled uneasily, but still offered his hand in a handshake.  
"Likewise." The cat smiled back, although her smile was masking the true feelings she felt.  
"I'm just gonna grab some drinks, I'll be back soon, alright?" Carmelita smiled at 'Markus' before rushing off in another direction.

"...So, World Police Force. This means the, conference is pretty big news huh?" The fox started up the conversation after an uneasy pause.  
"Oh yes, it is." The cat replied, although her actual thoughts were rather less practical.

The World Police Force - an intercontinetal organisation focused on crimes, incidents, and potenial situations that are or may be damaging to the security and well being of the planet. They are also known for being 'the police who police the police' i.e. keep all the other law enforcers in check.

It's members are the few people who's authority, respect and influence is greater than that of Interpol.

To Douglas, this meant that whatever the hell he was involved in, was BIG.

* * *

Location: The upper level of the Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:00 

With one swipe of his cane, the latch of the window opened, and Sly jumped inside. He walked a few steps inside, before stopping and taking out his Binocucom.

"Okay, I'm in." Sly stated, looking ahead at the rows of yellow security lasers ahead of him. "But so much for this being a security weak-spot! Look at those lasers! There's no way I'll be able to get past them!"  
"I said the weak-spot was getting in, although I'll admit, this does balance the 'anti-intuder' measures somewhat. Just as well you've got those Splice Clips with you!"

Sly then looked at a security consol near the window.

"Just stick a Clip in that consol, and I'll be able to hack the security system from here in the van."  
"That seems easy enough."  
"Not exactally, the plans of the building indicate that some of the consols are actually a distance away for their corosponding laser grid."

"Alright, I guess that I'll have to do some 'reporting' like our friend Mr. Taylor." Sly smirked, putting away his Binocucom, walking over to the consol, and carefully slotting one of his Clips into the machine.

Sly took a step back, and smiled as he watched the consol flash into life.

* * *

Location: The Central Function Room, Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:00 

"I mean, I've only heard bits of what Cooper is capable of, you know, but I wouldn't expect him to do that sort of thing you know?" Douglas' question was more of a statement  
"Oh, I absolutely agree." Veronica replied. "This whole Cooper case is fasinating."

Douglas had hoped to at least gain some extra information from this shin-dig, but hadn't discovered anything. People were more interesting in talking about their most complicated crimes and so on. For an event supposed to be hyping the conference, hardly anyone was talking about.

Everyone knew what was going on, except him.

"What bothers me is what would Cooper be doing in Moscow?"  
'That's a no brainer.' Veronica thought to herself.  
"Really?" Douglas was interested now.  
"Huh? Really what?"  
"You said Cooper being here was a no-brainer, why's that?"

'SHIT!' She had thought out loud, without realising. 'What if he figures it out before tomorrow?!?? Oh god, oh god!!'  
Douglas smiled a little. "It's got something to do with the conference, right?"  
'SHIIIIIIIIITTTT!!!!' She had blown it, big time.  
"Come on, I can keep a secret." Douglas was smiling broadly now. The look of worry on Veronica's face told him all he needed to know.

The clues were there. Inspector Fox is involved, her photo along with Cooper and his gang were in his case. Cooper would obviously be involved. Although that didn't really tell him much, it was better than nothing.

"Hey Markus!" They both turned to see Carmelita returning with a couple of glasses full of champange.  
"Hey pretty lady!" Douglas replied, still smiling as he took one of the glasses from her.  
Veronica breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Have you two been geeting on fine?" The Inspector asked.  
"Oh, like a house on fire!" Douglas replied, glancing over to Veronica, who was grinning falsely.

* * *

Location: P.A. Control Room, The Central Function Room, Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:05 

Sly carefully opened the door, and stepped into the empty room.

"Okay Sly, you should be inside the P.A. system room now." Bentley said over the radio transmitter.  
"Yep, this looks like the place." Sly replied.  
"You should be able to look out the windows down into the main hall. From up here, you'll see everyone down there!"

Sly nodded to himself, as he walked over to the window and look down at the party goers through his Binocucom. Zooming in at the people, he carefully looked at their faces.

"Any of these guys show up on your data?" Sly asked his turtle friend.  
"Not really, they're mostly Russian officers and their friends..."  
"Hold up, there's some familiar faces."

Sly zoomed in on a group of three people. Using his Spy-Cam, he photographed one of them.

"Yep, that's Inspector Fox alright." Bentley stated. "That's one person defently involved with tomorrow's event."

Sly moved the camera over slightly, and took another photo.

"Hmm... My records show that this is Veronica Palace, one of the best in the World Police Force! This could be serious if the WPF get involved with this!"

"Relax Bentley, that's an if. We still don't know what the whole situation is with this." Sly reassured, before snapping the last member of the group.

"Aha! Douglas Smicktor. All we need to do to 'question' him is to just lure him away from the party."

"How do we do that?" Sly asked.

"Well, just plant another of those Splice Clips into the main machine, and I'll be able to take care of the rest..."

* * *

Location: The Central Function Room, Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:06 

"Ahem, ahem!" A slightly timid and worried sounding voice spoke over the announcement speakers. "Will Mr. Taylor please come to the front desk please, I repeat, please would Markus Taylor come to the front desk, right away!"

"Excuse me ladies, I better go and see what's up." Markus stated.  
"Okay Markus, just don't be too long okay?" Carmelita joked.  
"I'll try." He replied, before walking away from Veronica and Carmelita, and walking out of the main room.

He moved down the halls, following the signs that marked the way back to the front entrance.

He took a left.

Then a right.

Then another left.

Then there was a flight of stairs to climb...

Douglas stopped himself.

' There weren't any stairs to climb before.' He thought to himself, looking back at the sign. Looking around, Douglas saw that instead of pointing down the corridor, the sign was directing into the upper levels of the building.

Someone was luring him away from the party.

'That damn Jason!' Douglas cursed to himself. 'Well, if he damn wants to see me, then so be it!' He began climbing up the stairs. 'I'll give him something to remember!' He promised to himself, pulling out the nightstick consealed in his jacket.

Meanwhile, a young female badger ran past the staircase, and following the same route Douglas had just taken, went into the main hall.

"Excuse me, Miss Palace?" She said, after rushing over to the cat.  
"Yes?" She replied.  
"We have a problem, a serious problem!"  
"What do you mean?" Carmelita asked.  
"The internal security system is down, and someone just made a phoney announcement!"  
"What?!? Are you serious??" Veronica was slightly worried.  
"Yes Miss, the janitors say that whoever made the announcement must be on the top floor, that's where the control booth for the..."  
"Markus!" Carmelita interupted. "Did you see him?" The fox asked the badger.  
"Uh, the purple fox? No Miss, I didn't see him..."

Veronica pulled out a WPF-issue communicator.  
"Attention all available guards, we have a serious security breach in the building, with a possible hostiage situation, requesting immediate back-up!"

* * *

Location: The upper level of the Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:07 

"Okay Jason! Where are you?!??" Douglas shouted, the weapon in his hand ready to strike at any moment, as he stepped onto the upper level.

He looked into the dim hallway, but didn't see anyone. He started moving slowly forwards, staying alert with every step.

"I ain't playin' with you Jason, get your ass out here!"  
"Sorry, but I think I'm about to disappoint you." A voice vastly different from Jason's stated.

"Who's there?" Douglas replied, trying to figure out from the voice was coming from.  
"Oh, just your local friendly master thief."  
Douglas stopped. "You mean... Sly Cooper?"  
"The one and only." The voice replied.  
"What do you want?" Douglas was cautious. You didn't want to start a fight with someone with Cooper's reputation for no reason.  
"Oh, just a friendly chat between criminals. Confiendtially, of course."  
Douglas eased up a little. "You know who I am?"

Suddenly, someone started crawling from underneath a table next to Douglas. Taking a step back, the fox looked down to see a blue capped raccoon begin to stand up.

The two looked at each other for a seemingly tense moment.

The fox nodded in respect. "Sly Cooper."  
The raccoon returned the gesture. "Douglas Smicktor."  
"It seems that both sides of the law have an interest in the conference."  
"It seems so." Sly replied.  
"I wouldn't have thought a place crawling with cops would be your scene." Douglas said, folding his arms.  
"The same could be said to you." Sly replied coolly.  
"True, true."

There was another pause.

"Jeez, this is weird!" Douglas broke the silence.  
"Weird?" Sly titled his head a little.  
"I'm speaking with Sly Cooper man! THE Sly Cooper! You're like, infamous and stuff!"  
"I'm just a local name." Sly shrugged.  
"Your damn well more famous than me, that's for sure."  
"You're on Thief-Net." Sly offered.  
"Pickpockets are on Thief-Net, that doesn't mean much. They'd even know why they're here!"

Sly titled his head to the other side. "What does that mean?"  
"Dude, I don't know who I'm working for!" Douglas smirked.  
"Really?" Sly was a bit confused by this info. "Then why are you here."  
"To try and find out something about what's going on."  
"Ah, snap." Sly replied.  
"You neither?"  
"I guess not."

"Great." Douglas had a look of fustration on his face. "This was a big waste of time."  
"I wouldn't say that." Sly stated  
"Oh? And why would that be?" The way the fox said it showed that he didn't seem interested.  
"Well, you got to come with Carmelita. That's worth the trip alone."  
Douglas smirked. "I guess it's been a welcome distraction."

"Sly?? SLY!!" The same voice that had made the announcement a minute ago spoke out of nowhere.  
"Speaking of distractions..." Sly stated. "What is it Bentley?"  
"Sly, something's wrong! The guards have swarmed inside! We need to pull the plug on this operation right away!"  
"Say what?" Douglas looked confused at the raccoon.  
"No problem. I'm out of here."

With that said, Sly turned around and ran back down the corridor. Not wanting to be left behind, Douglas followed him. After turning a few corners, Douglas caught up with Cooper climbing out of a window.

"Making a quick exit too?" Sly smirked.  
"I ain't taking any risks!" Douglas stated.

Sly didn't say anything else, as he jumped onto a wire hooked onto the outside window ledge. Douglas watched amazed for a moment, as he saw the raccoon RUN along the thin wire.

'Wow...' Douglas thought, before snapping his thoughts back to reality.

Looking around, Douglas saw that the square in front of the ballroom building was now empty, except for the searchlights, which were now switched off. He also saw the awning over the enterance of the building. The fox smiled, glancing around again.

Then he jumped.

A few seconds past of the wind whistling through Douglas' fur, before he hit the soft material of the awning. Quickly, Douglas scrambled to the edge, and jumped safely down to the ground below. Glancing around, there were no guards to be seen. So the fox smiled again, as he walked inside and leaned against the front desk.

* * *

Location: The front desk, Grand Central Ballroom, Moscow.  
Time: 19:10 

"What do you mean there was no one there??" Veronica stated annoyidly.  
"We checked the whole of the upper levels, the only things different were this weird clips in all the machines and the open window." A young policeman stated, trying to keep up with the cat.  
"Nevermind that, did you find..." Carmelita began, when the whole party of police officers and guests stopped, upon seeing a previously missing fox.

**TING!**

Douglas pressed the service bell on the desk. "Hello? Anyone there? I was told to come here!"  
The fox then looked over his shoulder, to the group of people. "Something wrong?"  
"Where did you go?!??" Carmelita ran over to him.  
"Well I had to take a toliet break before I came here, and the next thing I know everyone's vanished! I must have missed something."  
"Seems not..." Veronica stated.  
"Hey, is there any of the staff here or something? I've been waiting for ages for..."  
"Markus, the announcement was faked!" Carmelita stated.

"What? No way!" He lied. "That's crazy!"  
"This whole event has had to be cut short now because of a security problem!" Veronica said in great fustration.  
"That's a real shame, it was going really well!"  
"I know, I know..." Veronica sighed.  
"Guess it's time to head back to the Hotel..." 'Markus stated.  
'Ha Got away with it!' Douglas thought to himself.  
"Come on Markus, let's go." Carmelita stated.  
"Sure thing!" He replied, and the two left through the front door, as the rest of the crowd began to disperse into the night.

* * *

Author Notes: Thanks to reviewers OldSchoolSonic, Noalyn & Mimic12355. In the next chapter, the conference will happen, and then, things will (I promise) start 'exploding'. 

Oh, and Veronica wasn't lying about a bombshell.


	8. From Past to Present

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, Jason and Veronica Palace; they are my fan-characters, so hands off!

Chapter 7 – From Past to Present

* * *

So far things were going smoothly. 

Douglas had easily infiltrated the dock compound, and the ground security and searchlights were avoided without detection. It was almost child's play. But Douglas never let his guard down once. That would be a fatal mistake.

It was strange how few guards there were, in relation to how late at night it was. Maybe they were bored out of their minds of the same routine. Maybe they'd prefer to stay indoors to avoid the cold. Douglas didn't mind, it helped him out.

Douglas carefully edged along the narrow ledge off the side of the building his back was pressed against, trying not to look down at the water below him. Not that Douglas was afraid of it, he was a good swimmer, but the sound of him hitting the water would certainly attract the attention of guards.

Douglas extended his hand along the wall, and grabbed the bottom of the window. Cautiously, Douglas pulled it upward, opening it. It wasn't long before Douglas used the gap to enter the building.

'Okay, now to find that sceptre...' Douglas reminded himself. 'I'm in the warehouse's office, so the safe should be... Wait a minute...'

Douglas knew something wasn't right. If this was an office he was in, then where were the desks, chairs, stuff like that? It was empty!

'The heck?' Douglas thought again. This wasn't good at all. In fact, it was starting to get very suspicious.

It only got worse when the window shut itself mechanically.

Douglas ran over to the window, and tried opening it again. It was shut.

'To hell with this!' Douglas thought, pulling out his nightstick. 'I'm getting out of here!'

"Bing-Bong mate!" A confidant, English accent called out from outside the office. "The train for Set-up City has departed with one male passenger."

Douglas froze, and the grip on his nightstick tightened. That voice was all too painfully familiar to Douglas. And he knew all too well what it indicated. Slowly, Douglas turned around, and saw the clear outline of a figure standing behind the door

"Let yourself in Constable..." Douglas replied, with a cold edge in his voice.  
"How sweet of you." The voice replied sarcastically, as the silhouette turned the handle on the door.

Douglas couldn't stop himself from growling in anger upon seeing the figure that entered the room.

The thorn in his side, the salt in his wound, the shadow that never seemed to leave him, or to use the term that Douglas used:

Stalker.

But in Interpol, she was known only as Constable Neyla.

"Should I guess how this happened, or will you just inform me?" Douglas questioned darkly.  
"Really Smicktor, you aught to keep that temper of yours in check." Neyla replied, admiring the end of her trademark whip, partly in arrogance, but mostly to anger Douglas more.  
"Oh I plan to..." Douglas replied. "Once you're erased from this universe."  
Neyla sighed. "I'm sure there will be plenty of psychotherapy sessions once you're on our side of the law."  
"Like I've said before: I ain't teaming up with you!"

"Come on Smicktor!" Neyla replied with mild annoyance. "I'm not being fooled. It's only a matter of time before you come to your senses. Why not get it over with and..."  
"You get over it!" Douglas snapped, interrupting the feline. "Just because you got caught out by the cops when your stupid homework ring collapsed!"  
"Hey!" Neyla was insulted by that comment. "That ring was perfect! Circumstances just conspired against me!"  
"You know, for someone who claims to be the best at what they do, it sounds weird that you don't have the mental capacity to do your own homework!"  
"That's rich coming from a guy who's never been to school!"  
"I've got all the damn street smarts that I'll ever need! Life teaches you more than any textbook could!"

"If you're so smart, then why are you stuck being the 'errand boy' for any organisation that pays you?"  
"If you're so good, then why are you desperately chasing after a partner?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean..." Douglas smirked. "...That... YOU SUCK AT BEING A COP!" Douglas roared at the Constable.

That was all it took to provoke Neyla to break out of her usually cool personae and into battle mode.

Neyla lashed out with a crack of her whip, but only hit thin air as Douglas dodged the shot, rolling away from it to his left side. The tigress attempted to hit the fox again, but Douglas dodged to the right this time. But before Neyla had time to react, Douglas lunged at her, causing her to jump backwards out of the door way.

Douglas knew well that in close combat Neyla would have to reply to hand-to-hand instead of her whip, while Douglas's nightstick was perfect for close combat. Swinging his arm, Douglas aimed to strike the Constable in the head with the weapon, and was close to doing so if Neyla hadn't narrowly ducked out of the way.

Neyla ran across the metal gantry that hung over the warehouse, trying to get some distance between herself and her opponent to utilise her weapon, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Douglas was giving chase.

So it was a surprise to her to see Douglas jump over the side of the railing and land safely on the floor below.

"Not running away are we Smicktor?" Neyla challenged, shouting down.  
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not!" Smicktor shouted back. "I think that the ball's in my park now!"

Indeed, Douglas had an advantage now. The only light in the darkened warehouse was the moonlight from the windows in the roof, which meant that the ground level maze of stacked boxes and creates, was shrouded in darkness.

"...Perhaps..." Neyla weighed up the situation in her mind. "You're quite a tricky little one, aren't you?"  
"So I hear." Douglas shouted back. "You never answered my question before."  
"Oh, you mean how we ended up like this? Stroke of luck actually. The gang got busted an hour ago, and I happened to pick up a memo about you're job for them."  
"So you grabbed the sceptre then?"  
"Actually, the memo never mentioned where it was, so I'd thought that you'd lead me too it, and I could catch you red-handed at the same time."

"I'd say you were a disgrace to your badge..." Douglas replied. "But that would acknowledge that you'd actually accomplished anything..."  
"HOW DARE YOU!" Neyla almost screamed into the darkness. "I am one of the best Interpol will ever have! They should be honoured that they discovered my talents!"  
"Face it Neyla! You're a little girl playing dress up in a adult's world!"  
"LIES!" Neyla screamed back.  
"You can't handle the big, scary, REAL world on your own! Is that why you've been after me?"

Mind games. Neyla knew what Douglas was doing. She knew that while she'd aggravated Douglas by relentlessly pursuing him, Douglas had always found a way to expose her faults, find her fears and worries.

They knew each other inside out - from backgrounds to attacks to personality. But Douglas had been able to get inside Neyla's mind in a way she had never been able to. Sure, she was known for getting inside the head of the criminal element, but this was another story.

Why Douglas was doing this was another question. To make Neyla so mad that she'd make a mistake? To formulate a plan? Or was he just stalling for time until he...

The sound of a door being quickly opened, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps, answered that question.

Douglas ducked out of the doorway, and down the dark alley by the warehouse's side. Running towards the dead-end, he jumped up, and grabbed onto the top of wall before pulling himself up, and landing safely on the other side.

He smiled, knowing that he'd one-up'd Neyla once again. He looked around him, and spotted an escape route in the middle of the road.

"SMICKTOR! COME BACK HERE!" Neyla screamed as she ran out of the warehouse, looking around her. "YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER! I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT!"

Douglas smiled again, lifting up the manhole cover in the middle of the road, and climbing down the ladder into the hole.

So by the time Neyla had figured out that Douglas had climbed over the wall, he was long gone. Using the sewer system under the city to evade Neyla.

So the sounds of the tigress' disgruntled screams of failure, was pure blissful music to Douglas' ears.

But what was not blissful to Douglas, was the next sight he saw as he turned a corner.

"Huh? What the?"

Douglas was confused to say the least. Well, so would you if you came face-to-face with...

"A giant lemon?" Douglas said, a look of complete disbelief coming across his face.  
"A giant FLYING lemon to be exact." The lemon replied, as it hovered above the ground.  
"What the hell?" Douglas said. "Lemons don't fly, and they damn sure don't talk!"  
"Of course not! But you are forgetting that this isn't real."  
"...Huh?"  
"Well, I might as well explain it to you, but you aren't going to be happy. What happened before was directly from your memories. That's because this is actually a..."

* * *

Location: Room 302, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow  
Time: 08:57 

"A DREAM?" Douglas stated at the same time as opening his eyes and sitting upright in his bed.

Douglas was one-hundred-per-cent correct. He had relived a portion of his past through a dream.

"URGHHH!" Douglas groaned in pain, clasping his head. He felt terrible, particularly in the brain area. Now Douglas was no kind of doctor, but even he knew what the common term was for his condition.

A hangover.

It was only the start of the collection of problems he would have today.

The day of the Conference.

* * *

Location: Cooper Gang Safe house, Moscow  
Time: 9:31 

"Morning Citizens!" The self-proclaimed superhero hippo greeted the raccoon master thief and the intelligent turtle. " 'The Murray' hopes to find you all this glorious day!"  
"Ah, yeah, I'm fine thanks." A slightly bemused Sly replied.  
Bentley just shook his head. "Well, although it's nice to see everyone in 'high' spirits, the fact remains that last night's operation... Was a failure."  
"Okay, so we didn't discover anything." Sly shrugged his shoulders. "But it's not like we got caught or anything."  
"Sly's right." 'The' Murray said. "From this setback, glory shall prevail like a mighty tree in the breeze!"

'Wow!' Sly thought. 'Either Murray's really into this superhero thing, or he's been reading Bentley's dictionary collection!'  
"...Uh... Be that... As it may..." Bentley started again, more than slightly taken aback by the unexpected speech from the hippo. "I suppose the old 'Go in with nothing, leave with nothing' cliché can be applied."  
"Lest we forget, the day of reckoning is upon us." Murray added.  
"Mur... I mean, 'The Murray' is right." Sly corrected himself. The Conference starts at eleven.  
"Just enough time to formulate a plan."

The three smiled, knowing that now, the waiting was over.

* * *

_N.B. It should be noted that around this time (09:30 - 10:00), a jailbreak occurred at the High-Security State Penitentiary 40 miles from Mesa City. Analysed CCTV footage shows that the accomplices to the crime were a team of 'ninjas' and 'gangsters'. Apart from the numerous guards knocked out and damage done to exterior walls and jail cells, only one prisoner escaped._

_Former member of The Fiendish Five - 'Muggshot'._

_This information is of course invaluable to the case of 'The Sinister Sixth'.

* * *

_

Author says: Okay, I know I said this chapter would have the Conference. I lied. Well, not lied exactally. I decidedthat for better sub-plot-ness in RLC, a memory-dream-thing was needed. But I guarentee, no, I PROMISE, that Chapter 8 is The Conference!

Noalyn- There's ya Neyla! There is a reason for the spelling mistakes in Chap 6 - I believe in my haste to put the chapoter up, I forgot to spell check it. Whoops. OldSchoolSonic- Specific info about Veronica comes in Chapter 8; oh, and enjoy Sly Doug being nice while you can. the next time they meet, it won't be so friendly. Mimic12355- No, Douglas cannot read minds. That would ruin all the mystery. He's just not a moron. Nee Knight- Oh, there will be moments between Sly, Doug and Carmelita in the future, and sooner then you may think.

Right, that's your lot for this chapter! No more hints! Douglas learns the truth next!

_Edited 01/05/05 for removal of lyrics_


	9. The Conference

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, Jason and Veronica Palace; they are my fan-characters, so hands off!

Chapter 8 - The Conference

* * *

Location: The Conference Room, Royal Central Hotel, Moscow  
Time: 11:00

_Confidential Interpol Notes:_

_Subject: The Sinister Sixth - 'The Conference'_

_The case of The Sinister Sixth technically began many, many years ago, but it 'took off' at this moment. It cannot be overstated that before 'The Conference' - as it has been nicknamed - Douglas Smicktor had no knowledge who he was working for, what he was collecting, and what he was involved in._

_The room was set up with TV Cameras in the back corners (the corners nearest the main entrance/exit doors of the room), and rows of chairs set up in front of the stage. On the stage itself, apart from the desk/table where Inspector Fox and Veronica Palace sat behind, 4 policemen guarded a container covered with cloth. On the other side of the stage, a large TV was set up. The seated guests in front of the stage were mostly journalists and police officials. _

_Douglas Smicktor was sat on the fifth row from the stage, on the far right seat. This was directly next to a side entrance/exit for Hotel staff members, in which a 'Hotel waiter' stood._

_Douglas Smicktor had taken his seat five minutes before the scheduled start of 'The Conference', and was observed reading a small piece of paper. Hindsight reveals that Smicktor had removed the paper from underneath the bottom of his seat, prior to previous instructions from his employers._

_Exhibit A: Douglas Smicktor's Instructions - From the Conference_

'_On the small card enclosed, write the answer when you figure it out. There is a waiter standing near you. Call him over and hand him the completed card. You should then leave discreetly by the side door when the waiter was, and return to your hotel room via the service elevator._

_- R'_

Douglas thought over in his mind the envelope that he'd pulled from the underside of his seat. It sounded simple enough, which, knowing Douglas' luck, meant that it was going to be stupidly and annoyingly difficult.

But right now Douglas was concerned with listening. Carefully. He was going to figure this out one way or another. And right now, anyway was better than the hard way he was going through.

_The exact details of how Sly Cooper, the infamous master thief, gained access to the Hotel, and managed to hide directly underneath the stage are still unknown._

"Bentley?" Sly whispered. "I'm in position."  
"Okay Sly." The turtle replied in an identically quiet voice. "Thanks to your recon and pick pocketing work, I'll be able to transmit the live TV images into your Binocucom."  
"And to think that this is only going out as a police-only broadcast. So much for cable."  
"This is the digital age Sly." Bentley said in a slight 'matter-of-fact' way.  
"Huh?" Sly was confused.  
"Never mind..."

_Veronica Palace - 28 years old, female, feline. After easy passing through school, she quickly passed through the ranks of local, and then national police, before being spotted by the World Police Force. Impressed by her obvious law-enforcement skills, and an uncanny ability to somehow solve EVERY crime she was assigned to, she rose up the ranks again. At this time, she held the position of Commander in Charge of World Security for Europe._

_Although usually calm and level headed, it was noted that on occasions she was seen to be nervous, verging on paranoid. This was thought to be due to wanting to maintain her police record._

Veronica breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up from her seat, glad that she was finally able to get the 'show' on the road.  
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Veronica announced, smiling. "Thank you for your patience, we are now ready to begin."  
The whispered chatter from before died into silence upon hearing this.  
"First, I'd like to introduce you to the guest sitting beside me..." Veronica continued. "One of Interpol's finest, Inspector Carmelita Fox!"  
Polite applause followed the introduction, to which the Inspector simply nodded in reply.

_Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox was observed to be meeting with Douglas Smicktor the day before 'The Conference', and also sat next to him during a 'plane flight to Russia. She was unaware of his true identity (Smicktor used the name 'Markus Taylor', as par instructions from his employers, and he was still relatively unknown in the criminal and police world. Only a sole page existed on ThiefNet about him. That of course changed very quickly)._

To say that Carmelita was a little distracted was an overstatement. Unconfirmed reports from last night stated that Sly Cooper had been spotted in the area of the Police ball, which meant that once again he's slipped past her unnoticed.  
'Sometimes I'm sure he does it for his own perverse amusement...' She thought to herself.  
Of course, that wasn't the only reason for her distraction. There was a certain journalistic purple fox sitting to too far away from her.  
Carmelita didn't know why when she was around him, she became so... Different. Although she would admit, but maybe only to herself, that she'd had the most fun in years with him.  
'Why is it always the cute ones?' She sighed to herself.

"Well, I'm sure that you are all anxious to know what this is all about." Veronica said after the applause ended.  
'Damn right.' Douglas thought to himself.  
"You will all have noticed by now the container by the stage..." Veronica pointed to the guarded cases as she talked. "Well, let's waste no more time. Guys, please reveal the contents!"

The four guards around the case nodded in reply, and swiftly pulled the covering off the case. After which, flashbulbs from cameras went off.

"Bentley... Please tell me that is NOT what I think it is!" Sly spoke as quietly as he could.  
"Oh... Oh my... This is bad! Really bad!" Bentley could only say in reply, which confirmed Sly's fears.

_Exhibit B: Clockwerk's Brain (refer to archive picture)_

_Crafted out of a disturbing combination of rare metals, unparalleled circuitry, and pure hatred. The brain of Clockwerk was said to contain knowledge from almost over 2000 years of life on earth, but every thought, plan and memory was tainted by Clockwerk's pure hatred for the Cooper family. That same hatred caused Clockwerk to change his mortal owl body into cold, heartless machinery. _

_The strength of the Clockwerk Brain (and all of the other parts) cannot literally be measured by any human (or rational) means. Tests have shown complete resistance to intense crushing pressure, high and low temperatures, and even to being cut by diamond blades. Such is the hatred that kept Clockwerk alive._

"That, ladies and gentlemen..." Veronica announced. "Is the brain from Clockwerk, quite possibly the most ruthless, cruel and despicable criminal ever to exist."

Excited and worried chatter amongst the seated guests then followed. Temporarily forgetting his journalist disguise, Douglas stood up, and with an expression of mixed shock, awe and a little fear, stared at the brain.

'My god...' Douglas thought. 'What the hell am I involved in?'

"Please ladies and gentlemen, calm down!" Veronica called out. "The brain is totally harmless right now, please sit down."  
After about a minute, everyone returned to his or her seats, including Douglas. But there was now a great sense of worry around the room.  
"Miss Fox, would you please inform us a little on the history of Clockwerk?"

Carmelita nodded, before standing up to address the crowd.

"Clockwerk was once an ordinary owl; flesh and bone like everyone else. But then something happened. What exactly happened, how it happened, and why, we don't know. Whatever it was, it was the catalyst that started his hatred for the most infamous family line of criminals that has ever existed - The Cooper Family.

But this was no ordinary hatred. It was strong enough to make him not want to just kill the Coopers, but to erase the Cooper's family line, and legacy. Clockwerk wanted to destroy the prized possession of the Coopers, the relic that had been passed down from generation to generation. The Thevius Raccoonus.

But Clockwerk was unable to match the incredible thieving skills of the Coopers. So he neared the end of his mortal life, and the next stage of his troubled existence. To continue hunting the Cooper family, he began to replace his own body with the latest technology available to him; using amounted criminal funds he had 'obtained'.

A crude method, but effective. Clockwerk lived. Yet no matter how much he tried to kill off the Coopers, he was unsuccessful. New generations of Coopers added to the Thevius Raccoonus. So the years turned to decades, the decades to centuries, the centuries to millenniums. All the time, Clockwerk changed his body as technology advanced. Soon, he had removed all of his feathery body with metal almost as cold as his soul.

He was machinery from the inside out. His wings, lungs, claws, and as you can see, even his brain. The only part that remained the same through the years, was his hatred for the Coopers.

About a year ago, the police forces internationally breathed a sigh of relief when Clockwerk was finally destroyed. Although I am not the kind of person to gloat; it was a good feeling to know that the world was a much safer place thanks to my hard work in taking down the members of The Fiendish Five. The group Clockwerk had set up to finally get rid of the Coopers."

'That's a lie!' Sly thought. 'I did all of the work, and she took all of the credit!'

"Ultimately, I believed that Clockwerk was dead and gone. It seems that quite the opposite is in effect." Carmelita concluded.

"Thank you Inspector Fox, now allow me to fill in the rest of the details." Veronica said, now taking centre stage. "The Fiendish Five had managed to raid a Cooper family safe house, killing the father of Sly Cooper, the currant generation of Coopers. They found the Thevius Raccoonus, and tore its pages out, leaving Sly orphaned and alone.

It was thought that Sly would be persuaded out of his thieving family ways by the orphanage he was sent to. It had an opposite effect. There, he met up with Bentley and Murray, and formed the 'Cooper Gang'. One night, the trio mysteriously disappeared, and the rest has become history.

Interpol, after a search of the lair of Clockwerk, left the scattered parts in the lava, believing that they would be easily melted away into nothing. It is my unfortunate duty to inform you all, that this was defiantly not the case.

Some of you may, or may not have, heard of The KLAWW Gang. Well, it seems that they, for a still unknown reason, took an interest in the Clockwerk parts. In the past year, they recovered the parts, only to sell them off to various minor gangs across the world. At first, we thought this was solely for material gain. But we were wrong once again. If you would all like to divert your attention towards the television at the other side of the stage, we have a short film that would explain our concerns..."

_Exhibit C: Video message/threat from The KLAWW Gang_

_The video begins with a shot of a darkened room. In it, the outline of a table can be seen, and something on top of it. Throughout the video, this is the only shot seen, the voices heard are from behind the camera, and therefore the owners of the voices cannot be seen. With hindsight, we are able to identify the voices owners._

"Attention police members, whoever you are!" A high pitched voice declared. _(Arpeggio's voice)_ "We are the leaders of The KLAWW Gang, and have a declaration of war against criminals and police members alike!"  
"Smooth!" A slimy, bad-accented voice added. _(Dimitri)_ "Big up style bro'! Preach to da posse!"  
"Quiet boy, eh!" A stiff, rough voice interrupted. _(Jean-Bison)_ "Let him finish!"

"Yes... Now, where was I? Oh yes!" _Arpeggio _continued. "It has come to our attention that you police-types have been proud of yourself for rounding up some of the Clockwerk parts. Tsk tsk! You forget that you left the parts lying around, for us to easily collect!"  
"Ignorance like a common flea!" A loud, imposing voice declared. _(Rajan)_

"Now, I'm sure you are wondering what we were doing with the parts, and why we disposed of them so quickly. Of course, I wouldn't expect anyone in your paper-pushing organisations to understand what we in the KLAWW Gang have envisioned..."

"Flip-Reverse it for da East-West-South-Coast-Side Crew!"  
"Shut up!" _Rajan_ roared. "You illiterate fool!"  
"WHAT?" _Dimitri_ replied. "My speak is over like Rover, ya feel?"  
"AS I WAS saying..." _Arpeggio _interrupted. "We no longer need the parts of the 'old bird', and for good reason."

A silence then followed.

"Move." _Dimitri_ stated.  
"Eh?" _Jean-Bison_ replied.  
"Move it dude! Snap the lights on in this mother!"  
"Oh, lights."

Some scuffling noises, accompanied by grumbling voices, were heard. Then, the lights then came on, revealing the item on the table.

_The most accurate way to describe the item would be, as it was nicknamed, 'The Fake Clockwerk Brain'. In appearance, it is exactly like the original Clockwerk brain in every way. The difference is that it is obviously made from a combination of impure and pure metals, rare alloys, and a good deal of gold plating to disuse the hard work done to create it._

_In actual ability, it is disturbingly accurate to the actual workings of the real Clockwerk brain. So much so, they are like clones or twins of each other._

"Behold! The creation from the greatest scientific mind ever to grace this planet! An exact replica of the brain of Clockwerk!" _Arpeggio_ gloated. "And this is just the start! We in the KLAWW Gang have replica parts of ALL of Clockwerk! From the wings, to the heart, even the claws!"  
"Sharper than knives those things." _Jean-Bison_ stated.

"So it does not matter..." _Arpeggio_ continued. "That Interpol has collected some of the parts, or that the remains of The Fiendish Five are searching them out. We have much greater plans for the parts, greater than any mind could possibly imagine!"

Another silence then followed.

"Is that all?" _Rajan_ asked.  
"Yes, that is all." _Arpeggio _replied.  
"True 'dat!" _Dimitri_ stated. "KLAWW Gang for life baby! Understand 'dis!"

_The footage then ends, cutting insantly into static._

The conference room was in a state of disbelief; no one dared say a word as they tried to understand what they had just seen.

"I'll be brief..." Veronica broke the silence. "The KLAWW Gang has somehow found the means to recreate all of the Clockwerk parts, which is cause for alarm enough. But there is more bad news to report. It seems that the remains of The Fiendish Five gang have been recollecting the parts. Small, unconnected gangs bought the parts, to try and increase their status in the underground criminal world. This would make them easy pickings for an organisation like The Fiendish Five.

We have been unable to identify where all the parts were located, and therefore any additional information about the parts, save for around 20 of the Clockwerk fragments, which were taken for analysis. These include the Clockwerk Brain you see here today. So it was essentially a mystery as to how many of the remaining parts were still 'in the open' or in the possession of The Fiendish Five.

However, to further add to the interest of this situation, the KLAWW Gang delivered, along with the video message, a list of the gangs who held possession of the parts. Of course, this list wasn't taken too seriously due to its source. That was, until a few days ago.

An investigation by Inspector Fox into a break in to a small house in Paris, France, uncovered information about a large gang network. Interrogation of suspects from the house revealed that a high-tech safe taken from the house, by 'a beggar', actually contained the claws from Clockwerk. This location was listed at the bottom of the list from KLAWW..."

Douglas froze. All around him, everything slowed down as the words sank in.

A small house in Paris.  
A break in.  
A high-tech safe.  
Taken by a beggar.

No, a beggar didn't take it. It was taken by...  
'Oh... My... God...' Douglas thought. He felt sick, he felt amazed. A cascade of varying emotions rushed over him, as all the questions he had in his mind, from over 9 months seemed to fit into place.

The clues were there.  
What else could the Sly Cooper gang and Inspector Fox be involved in?

Looking down at the small card, Douglas mentally answered the two important questions.

What was he collecting?

The Clockwerk parts.

Who was he working for?

The Fiendish Five.

Quickly, Douglas wrote that down onto the card. Unseen by the rest of the room, he then called over the waiter and handed him the card. The waiter simply nodded, stepped back into his alcove, and then walked away through the side passage from the room.

"Sly! I... I can't believe this!" The turtle said in disbelief.  
"Calm down Bentley!" The raccoon replied. "I know this sounds really bad..."  
"We are possibly dealing with TWO Clockwerks here Sly! TWO!"

Carmelita could quite believe it herself. She knew this was something about Clockwerk, but she couldn't in her worst nightmares have thought of this! She looked around the people sat in front of her, looking at the shocked faces.  
'Huh?' She noticed a sole empty seat. 'Where did Markus go?'

Unseen, Douglas had slipped out through the side door, and was already in the service elevator, heading up to the third floor. All the while, he was shaking his head, not really believing himself.  
'No way...' He thought. 'This can't be for real!'

When he saw the doors slide open, he quickly ran onto the floor of the hotel, up to the door of room 302, and unlocked the door with his room key.

Douglas walked into his room, and was instantly greeted by a familiar face.

"Welcome aboard!" Jason said, smiling as he greeted the fox. "Welcome to the ranks of The Fiendish Five!"

* * *

Douglas Smicktor is caught up in a battle between organised crime, Sly Cooper, and the Law. He's in too deep, all because of something he didn't realise he was helping to rebuild...

Organised crime The Fiendish Five and The KLAWW Gang

Something he didn't realise he was helping to rebuild Clockwerk

Welcome to Running Like Clockwerk.

* * *

Author Notes: Oh yes, you read right. That's what's going down! Jak and Dax Freak- I think it might be obvious why Muggshot's escaped, but wait and see. Noalyn- Wait and see, wait and see... Captein Amelia- I hope that's a WOW as in 'WOW, this is a good read' and not 'WOW, I wasted my time reading this'. Kidding!

One last thing: You all may start disliking Douglas for a good while now. Lets just say you'll soon find out what that 'mean-streak' Jason talked about in the Prologue is all about...


	10. Enemy Number One

**Running Like Clockwerk**

By Airo Smicktor

I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, Jason and Veronica Palace; they are my fan-characters, so hands off!

Chapter 9 – Enemy Number One

* * *

Room 302

"Oh! I'm just bloody overjoyed!" Douglas snapped back at the creepy smile on Jason's face. "What the hell do mean 'the ranks'!"  
"You're one of us!" Jason replied. "You've been working for us for all this time, and…"

Douglas grabbed Jason by the collar of his suit, pulling the rat to look into his angry eyes.

"I am NOT one of anyone, understand? I work for money! Always have, always will! Just because I work for you, it doesn't, no, it will NEVER mean that I am one of you! UNDERSTAND?"  
"Wha… WHAT?" Jason replied, clearly very shocked. "Wait… Hold on there Smicktor! I… I mean…" It was obvious that Jason was trying to think of an excuse quickly to keep Douglas from leaving.  
"Who in the BLUE HELL is going to want to employ me now when it comes out that I've been working for…!"

"C… Calm down D-Douglas!" Jason bravely interrupted. "The...The Fiendish Five will… Will provide ALL the employment you'll ever need now!"

It was plain to see that Douglas wasn't buying any of this.

"Be… Besides…" Jason continued, still worried. "No body knows that you've been rounding up the Clockwerk parts, do they?"

* * *

Conference Room

A relative of order and calm was now back in place. During the previous moments of chaos, no one had noticed that a cloaked figure had entered through the main doors, and was standing with her back against the wall opposite the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please!" Veronica stated calmly. "I understand your concerns, but I can assure you that we are already working hard to…"

"What about this KLAWW Gang?" A reporter interrupted as he stood up. "Who are they? What do they want with their own Clockwerk parts?"  
"Do you have any information about the status of the real Clockwerk?" Another reporter asked.

"Unfortunately, we have been unable to collect much intelligence…" Veronica began. "…About the KLAWW Gang. They are seemingly quite elusive. But from what has been gathered, the KLAWW Gang is an organised crime syndicate, with contacts and headquarters around the globe. As for the Clockwerk parts, as I have mentioned, we already have a number still in police hands."

"You mean at the 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Centre, outside of San Francisco?" Carmelita asked.  
"That's right." Veronica replied. "It's also where Raleigh, formally of The Fiendish Five, is serving time for his crimes."  
"But what about the other parts?" The second reporter asked again.

Veronica smiled confidently. This was the question she had been waiting for, and the fabricated answer she had been longing to use.

"At first, we of course assumed that somehow The Fiendish Five were after the parts. But because their leaders are all locked behind bars - or in the case of Clockwerk, in pieces – and the fact that there has been no activity from any remnants of any of the leader's gangs; we've ruled The Fiendish Five out of the equation. We are now sure that only one other person has the means, and the motive, to go after the parts.

Sly Cooper."

"Cooper?" Carmelita exclaimed, as shocked as the others in the room, as indicated by the unanimous gasp that was heard.

"Cooper would be after the parts to prevent the reconstruction of Clockwerk, of course." Veronica added. "It makes sense."

* * *

Room 302

"…All right…" Douglas let go of Jason, allowing him to breathe easily (and without fear). "You've gotten off 'Death Row' for now… Hey, where's my stuff?" Douglas looked around the hotel room, noticing a distinct lack of the luggage he had been given to use during his stay.

"Already packed away…" Jason answered, while trying to straighten out his creases. "…Waiting in the van."  
"Waiting? Van?"  
"We're gonna take you to our little base of operations here in Russia. After all, you are part, I mean, you're still working for us."

* * *

Underneath the Conference Room's stage

"Sly! They've got it all wrong!" Bentley said. "We don't know anything about what's going on!"  
"I know Bentley." The raccoon replied. "Something's not right here. I think I'm being set up."  
"We can work on that later! Return to base Sitting Duck!"

The Conference Room's stage

"Are you sure?" Inspector Fox asked. "If what you say is right, the Cooper was the one responsible for breaking into the house in France a few days ago, right?"  
"Yes…" Palace replied, slightly interested (but secretly slightly concerned).  
"But the damage to property, casualties, and the fact the safe itself was taken suggests that anyone BUT Cooper that crime!" Carmelita spoke the truth, if she 100 knew it herself or not. "Plus, I was perusing Cooper in at Paris at around the time the crime took place."  
"Be serious Inspector Fox!" The cat waved off the vixen's comments. "Who else could have possibly done it?"

"Oh I think I can answer that!" A voice said at the back of the room.

All attentions then turned to the source of the voice, the cloaked figure.  
"Who are you?" Veronica demanded.

The figure pulled off her hood, revealing her face, while producing a police badge.

"Constable Neyla, Interpol." She stated. "I'm looking for a purple fox going under the alias of 'Markus Taylor'."  
"Huh?" Carmelita stood up, more than shocked by the tigress' statement. "Alias?"  
"His real name is Douglas Smicktor, and, not to get too bogged down with details, he's a prolific criminal."  
"Doing what?" Carmelita questioned, a hint of anger appearing in her voice.  
"Quiet a bit actually." Neyla coolly replied. "But most recently, I tracked him down to a break-in. On your turf I believe Inspector - Paris, France."

"WHAT?"

'Oh God no…' Veronica thought, turning with her back to the rest of the room, allowing her to write a text message on her mobile without anyone noticing what she was doing. 'Smicktor would have to have a meddling stalker cop like Cooper as well… This is NOT good!'

Under the stage

"Sly? SLY? Did… Did you…"  
"I heard Bentley… I heard…" Sly said, his fists clenching. "Tell Murray to get the van ready to go at the rendezvous. We've got to stop Smicktor from leaving the city. I'm on my way out now.

* * *

Room 302

"What do you mean I'm still working for…?" Douglas started to say.  
"We don't have all the parts yet, and we need your help to get the last ones." Jason replied.  
"My help?"  
"Oh, you'll have plenty of support for this job from…" The rat was interrupted by his mobile 'phone buzzing.

Jason took out his 'phone, and looked at the message he'd just received.

"…Let's go Douglas." The rat stated, a very serious look now on his face. "Looks like some tigress has rumbled you…"  
"DAMN THAT NEYLA!" Douglas swore. "Damn her to some hell that involves razor blades for breakfast cereal, with strong acid instead of milk!"  
"Come on, we'll take the service elevator…"

* * *

"Mister Taylor? He's in Room 302…" The attendant at the desk began to say, before Neyla and Carmelita ran to the elevator, pressing the button to activate it. When it arrived, they both entered and the tigress pressed the button for the third floor.

"Smicktor?" Carmelita asked while configuring the settings on her shock-pistol, although the tone of her voice indicated that it wasn't much of a question, but a demand.  
"Yes, I'm sure." Neyla replied, her whip ready in her hand. "All the evidence points to a Smicktor job."  
"Evidence?" This time the vixen was asking a question. "There was hardly any evidence at the scene."  
"Exactly. No one apart from Smicktor can be that good at covering their tracks."

Carmelita arched an eyebrow at the statement.

'That good?' She thought, but dismissed it. She was way too angry to want to even come within a hundred miles of complementing Smicktor. But the vixen was mostly angry with herself. For the past few days, she had been fraternizing with a… A… A criminal! It was inconceivable! It was unbelievable! It… It was…

'Smicktor is going down BIG TIME when I get my hands on him!' Carmelita thought. 'Aye Carumba… Why are the cute ones always on the wrong side of the law?'

'…'

'…No! That's not what I meant!'

'What did you mean then?' A rarely heard voice in her mind, the voice of her 'wild' side, taunted. 'Or are you just going to apply your love/hate relationship for Sly to Douglas as well?'  
'SHUT UP! I do not like Cooper! The only way I would like him is behind bars!'  
'You're weird Carmelita.'  
'Huh?'  
'You always want to handcuff men. Do you have some kind of dominatrix bondage fantasy or something?'  
'WHAT? HOW DARE…!'  
'You've thought about having that raccoon at your mercy, haven't you?'  
'Of all the disgusting, perverted things that I have ever…!'  
'You're not denying it I notice.'  
'…SHUT UP!'

Carmelita's argument with herself was cut short by the lift arriving at the third floor. When the door opened, the two Interpol cops ran down the hall and burst into Room 302.

"FREEZE CRIMINAL!" Carmelita shouted, her gun pointing into the room.

"FREEZE SMICKTOR!" Neyla shouted at the same time, her whip ready to strike at any moment.

It was in the moment of silence that followed, they realised the room was deserted.

* * *

"…And what the hell do you mean by 'all the employment I'll ever need'?" Smicktor exclaimed, following Jason out of the lift into the hotel's underground car park.  
"What do YOU mean?" Jason shrugged. "I'm sure you'll see things our way when you see your full pay."  
"Full pay?" The fox questioned again.  
Jason smirked. "You'll see when we get to the base, now let's get out of here!" Jason then pointed to a black van that advertised chocolate on the side of it."  
"…All right." Douglas shrugged, concluding that it wasn't safe to stick around here much longer anyway.

'I'm probably public enemy number one around here anyway.' He added mentally.

The rat and the fox then walked quickly to the van, and on approach, two walruses, both dressed in workers' overalls, opened the back doors from within.

"Just to let you know…" Jason said, climbing into the van. "That all of The Fiendish Five's old gangs have still been operating since Clockwerk's fall. Underground cells, pretending to be legitimate businesses, all that stuff. They've been waiting too long, and they're grateful for the work you've done already."  
The walruses nodded in agreement, as Douglas climbed in.

"Let's get outta here!" Jason shouted.  
"Sure thing!" Came a reply from the driver's seat. "Ah man! Some van's coming down, we'll have to wait for it to park…"

Douglas paid no attention to the conversation, picking up what appeared to be a modified double-barrelled shotgun. Instead of bullets, it fired energy blasts (much like the shock pistols used by Interpol).  
'Nice!' Douglas thought, flipping the weapon to its '5' setting. 'I'm having this!'

His thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of metal clanging behind him. Looking over his shoulder, the fox saw someone emerging out of an air vent hatch into the parking lot.

A familiar raccoon.

* * *

Carmelita and Neyla ran back into the main hall, and into a Russian police officer.

"Inspector! Constable! We've secured the main doors and rear exits of the building!"  
"Good." Carmelita said. "There's no way Smicktor will get away!"  
Neyla let a short emotionless laugh pass her lips, showing she didn't share the same sentiments as the vixen.  
"What's so funny?" Carmelita questioned, glaring at the tigress.  
"Knowing Smicktor, he's probably already half-way out of the city by know." The Constable replied. "To say he's a slippery customer is an understatement. Trust me. I've been after him for years…"

"Years?"  
"Certainly. Ever since the first time he gave me the slip, I've made it my mission to bring him in."  
'That's how it started for me going after Cooper.' The vixen thought. 'Kind of ironic how this has brought us both here.'  
"You mean that he always has a back-up plan?" Carmelita asked.  
"Not exactly. He's quite unpredictable actually. Just when you think you know what his next move is, he does the complete opposite. It's worse if he's cornered or…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?" A voice shouted from within the Conference Room.  
"I'm sorry Sir, but Miss Palace left!" Another voice replied. "She's with her guards to escort the Clockwerk Brain to safety. She said that 'Smicktor' guy might try and get it."  
"So is everything secured?"  
"Everything except the car park. For some reason the security system there went down five minutes ago."

Carmelita and Neyla looked at each other, and nodded in agreement, knowing what the other was thinking. They then headed back to the lift, headed for the car park.

* * *

Author notes: The chapter gives me a wierd feeling.I don't know if I'm happy with it or not. Still, it's up now anyway. It's a littlething to get people prepaired for the next 'part' of it, and more importantlythe next chapter. Cool stuff happens, believe me.

Phantom of Les Miserables- Yep, it's Raliegh. Veronica mentioned where he was being held, which is relavent in the future.  
Noalyn- I went to town with my book of hip-hop phrases for Dimitri. I actually wrote too much stuff for him, that message went on too long (the other members couldn't get a word in) so it had to be cut.  
Shady Fetish- Glad to have ya aboard! You'll be seeing more of the KLAWW Gang in the future, but not for a while now.

Right, now off to work on the next chapter. See in you in three years. Kidding! (I hope)


	11. Brawl

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 10 – Brawl 

* * *

They locked eyes. The raccoon and the fox. The master thief, and the recovery expert. Both criminals, but on different sides of organised crime.

"Cooper…" Jason whispered, slowly pulling out his gun, as the others in the Fiendish Five van watched Douglas slowly step out of the van to the ground. Armed with the energy-blast shotgun he'd just picked up, and his nightstick in the other, he stood silent. Opposite him, Sly Cooper held the infamous Cooper cane.

"What have you done?" Sly asked, looking at the fox. "Do you have any idea at all of what you've done?"  
"I work for money, Cooper." Douglas replied flatly. "They paid, so I worked for them."  
"To rebuild a monster like Clockwerk?" Sly found it hard to understand why anyone would do such a thing.  
"What's happened with you and Clockwerk ain't my business. I do my job, take my cash, and I wipe my hands clean of it."

"So you think you can just walk away from this and think nothing of it?"  
"It's worked out fine every time I've done this before."  
"Well for your information, any person who works with Clockwerk is my enemy." Cooper stated, arming his cane.  
"…I can live with that." Douglas replied, pointing the shotgun at Sly.

In a blink of an eye, Sly rolled forward, and brought his cane upwards, knocking the weapon out of Smicktor's hands and over his head into the air. In a defencive reflex, Douglas flipped backwards to gain distance between himself and the raccoon. Using the pause he gained from this move, the fox looked for wear the gun had landed. Thankfully, it was back at the Fiendish Five van.

Turning his attention back to his opponent, Douglas tossed his nightstick in his hand in a subconshious movement. At the same time, both Sly and Douglas ran forward, lashing out with their weapons. They collided with each other, thus preventing any damage being inflicted. Again the opponents struck out, but the tools of battle blocked each other again.

For a third time, the nightstick and cane collided, this time over both of their heads. But instead of withdrawing, Douglas and Sly continued to force their weapons against the opponent's, in a test of strength. Once again, they eyes of the two locked, each burning with intensity. Sly's expression seemed to be one of remarkable calm, with underlying anger. Douglas clearly showed his emotions, snarling while glaring at the raccoon.

Bringing his foot up, Douglas kicked Sly in the gut. Surprised, Sly stumbled back a few steps. The raccoon had hardly any time to react, just barely ducking a shot aimed for his head. In reply, Sly swung his cane, planning to take out the fox's legs from under him. Douglas anticipated this, and jumped over the attack.

Douglas quickly brought his nightstick down again, just missing Sly, who sidestepped the attack. Quickly, the master thief swung his cane, striking the fox in the chest. Whincing, Douglas fell back to the ground, but only for a second before rolling to his left side. Douglas got to a kneeled position, expecting Cooper to have kept on the attack. To the fox's surprise, Sly had allowed him to get back to his feet.

That was part of the Cooper family honour against fellow criminals. There was also a little bit of surprise on the part of Sly. Most opponents would be down and out after a shot like that.

Douglas returned to stand on his feet, once again flipping his nightstick in his hand. There was another pause as the two locked eyes with each other. But there was something different about this stare down. It was as if the fox and raccoon were studying each other, trying to figure out how the person they were looking at.

"CATCH!" Jason screamed, throwing the shotgun towards Douglas. In one spinning motion, the fox twisted around on one heel, catching the weapon, before turning back to face Sly.

"BEGONE EVIL DOER!" Another voice called out, causing Douglas to switch position and fire towards the oncoming foe, which was struck by the blast and knocked backwards onto the floor. Douglas seemed to have hit a pink hippo dressed in a cheap superhero costume.

"MURRAY!" A voice called out from another van. Douglas saw the voice to belong to the green turtle known as Bentley.

"ATTACK!" Jason screamed, as he and the members of Raleigh's gang came out of the van.

Sly leapt forward, bringing down his cane, aiming for Douglas' head. Douglas able to use the shotgun as a shield, blocking the blow. Smicktor swung his nightstick towards Cooper's head, but Sly ducked and rolled out of the way. As two walruses headed towards the hippo, who was just returning to his feet, still feeling the effects of the weapon blast he had received; the Fiendish van moved off into a darkened corner of the parking lot.

Douglas ran over next to Jason, and looked back, allowing the other two walruses from the van to tackle Cooper, whilst turning up the setting on his gun to a much higher setting. He saw Murray easily knock out one of his attackers with a single uppercut, and then hoist the other over his head using his arms. Sly was far too nimble to be hit by his attackers, and using his cane, he had defeated one quickly. The members of the Cooper gang then worked together, as Sly led his attacker towards Murray, who tossed the walrus he was holding into the other, taking them both out.

"Let's get out of here!" Jason almost pleaded to the fox, grabbing a hold of him by the arm.  
"Why? This party's just getting started!" Douglas pushed the rat back, walking forward towards the hippo and raccoon. "These people all think I'm hype or something!"

At that moment, the left doors opened, and four people rushed out. Two of which were familiar to the people already in the car park.

"FREEZE CRIMINALS!" Carmelita ordered, pointing her gun. Beside her, Neyla stood with two Russian police officers.

"Why, Inspector Fox!" Sly's tone instantly changed as he turned towards the vixen. "Nice of you to join us, and I see you've brought a friend."  
"So this is the master thief Sly Cooper?" Neyla said.  
"So other people in Interpol know my name?" Sly asked jokingly, recognising the Interpol badge Neyla was holding. "And I always thought it was just Carmelita."

"Enough games Cooper! You're under arrest."  
"My my! Getting jealous that I'm talking to someone else?" Cooper asked, knowing that the 'games' were really just beginning.  
"Please." Carmelita rolled her eyes. "You Coopers are always after the same two things; money, and…"

Douglas wasn't listening to the conversation. His eyes had locked onto the Interpol constable. In that moment, Smicktor was in another dimension mentally. A place where his mind was sharper than ever, his senses multiplied by a hundred, and his aggression was unmeasurable.

The state that his 'mean-streak' most shined through.

Eyeing up the situation, Douglas glanced around him. He was vastly outnumbered. Four cops, two of which were extreme threats, plus the Cooper Gang. In a fair fight, he didn't stand a chance. There was the option of just jumping into the escape van and running, but then the cops would know exactly what the van looked like. Douglas glanced upwards, and noticed all the overhead lights were linked together from one big cord.

Douglas smirked. 'I guess that means… Well, that's the escape sorted out.'  
"What are you smirking at criminal?" Carmelita asked, now pointing her gun at the purple fox.  
"Oh, nothing…" Douglas replied, confidence now flowing through him.  
"Ah, I've heard you've gotten acquainted with Douglas." Sly stated.  
"What?" Neyla said. "You are joking right?"  
"Don't speak my name as if you know me Cooper." Douglas warned, still looking at Neyla. "That applies to all of you."

"You're under arrest as well." Carmelita said again. "Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air."  
"Hold it Carmelita." Neyla interrupted. "Smicktor's mine."  
"Never have been 'yours', and never will be." Douglas stated, raising his shotgun up and pointing it at the group of law enforcers.  
"Give it up Douglas, you and your Fiendish friends are going to jail." The tigress said.  
"And you're going to get that diploma…" Douglas starting saying. "Oh wait! You're not. You weren't good enough to finish school!"

"Take that back!" Neyla struck out with her whip, but the fox dodged it.  
"Oh yeah! I've done my homework on you as well! Even YOU couldn't do your own home…" Douglas was interrupted by another whip attack, which was avoided.  
"STOP MOVING!" Neyla was extremely irritated now.  
Douglas jumped onto the roof of a car, and fired off a shot aimed at the ground before her. This caused her to flip backwards to avoid it.

"OH look at me!" Douglas said in a mocking high-pitch voice. "I'm a stupid ugly Neyla who isn't smart enough to do work! Oops! I got caught! Guess I'll take the easy way out and be a cop!"  
"I guess you guys have history, right?" Sly asked, in response to what he had just witnessed.  
"You still here?" Douglas pointed the shotgun at Cooper.  
"ENOUGH!" Carmelita screamed, causing everyone to turn their attentions to her. "YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!"  
"But it's bed time!"  
"PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE… What?"  
"I said it's bed time." Douglas repeated, with a dark look in his eyes.

Without warning, Douglas turned his gun upwards and shot into the ceiling, taking out the electric cable that connected the overhead lights together.

Douglas was then able to sum up the situation in the parking lot perfectly.

"Lights out."

* * *

Author Notes: THIS chapter I am very happy with! Not so much in dialogue, but totally in action. In case you're wondering,the storywon't be in Moscow much longer. We'll be moving away soon enough, and then to the next 'phase'.

Paper Machete- As this chapter shows, Douglas can take and give out a beating. But trust me when I say he'll be on the receiving end of a couple of major punishment in the future.

Next chapter: We'll see what happens when Sly and Douglas are in their element of darkness...


	12. Blackout

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 11 – Blackout

* * *

All the lights in the car park went out, leaving the law enforcers standing in complete darkness. In the second it took for Carmelita to switch on the flashlight on her Shock Pistol, the sounds of screeching tyres were heard.

The Interpol police inspector flashed the beam of the torch on her gun around, hoping to see what had happened. She only caught a glimpse of the getaway vans heading for separate ends of the car park.

"Just like Smicktor." Neyla said. "To make the game more in his favour."  
"He's still here." Carmelita stated. "And so is Cooper."  
"How can you be sure?" The tigress questioned.  
"The vans would have taken off if they'd been in them. "We can still bring them in. You officers…" Carmelita looked at the two Russian policemen who'd come as back up for the Interpol Constable and Inspector. "Split up. We'll go in groups of two. Stay with each other, and look everywhere. They are armed and dangerous."

Sly smiled. Carmelita was still as smart as ever. He watched from his position under the car he'd slid under once the lights had gone out. One of the Russian cops was going with Carmelita, and the other had teamed up with Neyla. All had their flashlights out, and were heading in opposite directions.

'A dark, enclosed space.' The raccoon thought. 'Perfect for a rendezvous with Miss Fox.'

Sly slid out from under the car, watching as the groups were now far away from each other. He carefully began heading in the direction Carmelita went.

* * *

At the other end of the car park, Douglas was playing a different game altogether. He had legged it as soon as the lights went off. Now, he was waiting for the cops to come to him. Knowing Neyla, she would probably be expecting him to have run away. This was not the case. This time, she wouldn't know what hit her.

This was due to two reasons. First, he was ready to get her with a sneak attack. Secondly, Douglas was currently perched carefully on a water pipe on the ceiling, looking down on the car park just feet below him. The fox had picked a spot so he could put his back against an air-conditioning system, which made him more hidden, and in a better position to drop down.

His ears perked up, detecting footsteps coming towards his position. He waited, still listening. There was more than one person heading his way. That made his plan a little more than tricky to carry, especially if it was Carmelita.

Looking down, he saw the light from torches moving. Soon enough, he saw Neyla, her whip in her other hand, leading the way, with one of the Russian officers following behind.

'Not so difficult then.' Douglas thought, still watching then walk. 'Take out the local law, and then deal with Neyla.'

* * *

"Come on Cooper!" Carmelita shouted. "Give yourself up! You know there's no getting away this time!"

It was the she heard what sounding like something tapping off the ground.

"Did you hear that?"  
"Hear what?" The officer following her asked.  
"Cooper! That was his cane! I've got you now!" She announced, jumping up onto a car and standing to run along the roofs over to where she heard the sound.

All the Russian officer could do was watch the fox dash off. That made him easy pickings for the Finishing Slam that followed.

* * *

Neyla whipped around, the sound of something behind her getting her attention. Her torch lit up the ground, and showed something lying flat on the ground.

"What's that?" The officer next to her asked.  
"Not a clue." The tigress replied. "I'll cover you, while you investigate."  
"Uh, okay."

Slowly, the officer walked towards the object on the floor. Behind him, Neyla watched. Something was very suspicious about this, and she didn't want to risk herself.

"Uh… It looks like some kind of gun." He said, once he'd gotten close to it.  
"What kind of gun?" Neyla asked.  
"Well…" He said, kneeling down to pick it up.

That was the moment Douglas dropped down and brought his nightstick down on the officer's head. Neyla almost dropped her torch in shock, watching as Douglas picked up the dazed policeman, and then brutally threw him onto the hood of a nearby car, knocking him out.

Calmly, Douglas picked up his shotgun and pointed it at the Constable.

* * *

Carmelita frowned. She was sure she had heard something, but she found was a knocked over trashcan. She sighed, turning around. She noticed that the other flashlight from the officer that was with her was now gone.

"Cooper." She said. It was just like to cause a diversion and then pick off people one by one.  
"Someone call?"

The fox whipped around, pointing her gun, only to have the weapon knocked out of her hands by Cooper's cane. It slid just under a car, allowing the light from its torch to shine enough light for the fox and raccoon to see each other.

"Cooper!" She exclaimed.  
"Inspector Fox." He casually greeted.  
"What do you think you're…?"  
"No, don't say anything." Sly said, leaning against his cane. "This light make you even more beautiful."

Carmelita rolled her eyes. "If there were crimes for bad pick-up lines, you'd get a life sentence."  
"Miss Fox! I'm hurt." Sly said, putting a hand on his chest. "Is it so wrong for a man to acknowledge true beauty?"  
"Not at all, but for a CRIMINAL like you, it certainly is."  
"Carmelita, you use that same tired excuse every time. You know you're not fooling me."  
"Fooling? What on earth are you talking about? You're a no-good crook, and I enforce the law. That's it!"

Sly just smiled in response.  
"What are you smiling about criminal?" Carmelita demanded.  
"You know, you're really quite lovely when you're angry." Sly answered.  
"Don't make me throw up." The fox put her hands on her hips. "But, if you're so dead-set on making pointless small talk, maybe you'd answer me a question."  
"Anything, my precious policewoman."

Carmelita cringed, not believing that Sly could have thought of anything more sickingly sweet to say to her.  
"How come all you male criminals are so good at lying?"  
"Why just the males?" Sly looked confused.  
"That Smicktor, he had me fooled with that 'Markus' act of his. He kept it up for days as if that was really him."  
"Days? It's rare for some guys just to keep up an act for an hour, let alone days."

"What, so you're saying that this is unusual for crooks?" Carmelita now looked confused.  
"It means our friend Smicktor is very good." Sly responded. "He is a recovery expert after all."  
"What ever that means." The fox said. "Probably a title given by himself, to himself."  
"Oh, I don't know." Sly shrugged jokingly. "He's kind of like me."

"So he spends his time breaking the law, running from the law, and trying to go on a date with the law?" Carmelita said.  
"I meant that he only steals from criminals, to give back to criminals. Did I just hear so say that you wanted to go on a date with me?" Sly said with a smile.  
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID!" Carmelita roared.  
"Ah! So it's what you thought then." The raccoon stated. He was loving this. It was always fun to twist Carmelita's words against her.

* * *

"How the tables have turned." Douglas said, smirking darkly. "I bet you wish you were the one running now, aren't you?"

Neyla didn't respond, but clenched his fist around her whip more tightly than before, while the other held the torch.

"I've been waiting a long time for a moment like this."  
"What, to hold a police officer off at gun point?"  
"No. To end this." He stated, clicking the weapon on. "No more Neyla following me around the world, sticking her nose in my business."

Neyla stood still, trying her best to look unfazed by that statement. She wasn't even sure if she pulled it off.

"A while back, during the first few months, I didn't think I'd have to resort to this." Douglas said. "I've never killed anyone before. Knocked out a few, broken some bones, but never killed. But for you, I am VERY willing to make an exception."

Now the Interpol constable was very worried. When Douglas made a threat, he usually carried it out.

"D…Douglas, hold on! You've got it all wrong!" Neyla said.  
"Have I? Have I now? I don't think so!"  
"This… This isn't about some partnership between us!"  
"Really? Why should I believe you? In fact, give me one good reason why I shouldn't just blow your head off!"

In response, Neyla quickly threw her whip to the ground, just in front of Douglas.

The fox glanced down at it, then back to the tigress.

"Dropping your weapon. The old peace sign. All right, you've bought yourself some time to talk. Use it wisely."  
"Listen! I know we haven't seen eye to eye, or have been on the same wavelength or anything, but it's really not about me wanting to arrest you!"

Douglas titled his head slightly. It showed he was listening, but not understanding.  
"Then what is it about?" Douglas demanded, picking up her whip.

* * *

"What makes you think that I would give a mini-second to any notion like that?" Carmelita demanded.  
"Well, who wouldn't want a sophisticated, witty, gentlemanly, and not too mention handsome raccoon like myself?" Sly replied.  
"You even believe your own lies!" Carmelita exclaimed. "Do you realise how pathetic that is?"  
"I suppose it would be as 'pathetic' as denying that the last time you and I were in Russia it wasn't a wonderful moment."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"Just a little romantic meeting at an active volcano."

"If you are referring to the moment when you dared to put your hands on me…"  
"It was just a quick kiss." Sly shrugged. "But I wished it could've lasted a lifetime."  
"JUST A QUICK KISS? Do you realise just how sickened I was after…!"  
"You blushed." The raccoon stated.  
"I DID NOT!" Carmelita quickly exclaimed, preparing to slap Sly right across the face.

Sly easily caught the hand, holding the fox by the wrist. Carmelita tried with her other hand, but Sly caught that as well. She struggled against the grips for a moment, before Sly whipped her around her, placing her against a car.

Carmelita looked at the raccoon in horror. He had her trapped, and his body was now right next to hers. In fact, their noses were almost touching.  
"I didn't put enough effort into it last time." Sly whispered to her.

Before Carmelita could respond, Sly pressed his lips against hers.

* * *

Douglas walked slowly towards Neyla, his nightstick in his pocket, his energy-shotgun in one hand, and the Constable's whip in the other. The fox lowered his gun, and stood right in front of the tigress.

"So? What is this all about then?"  
"It's… It's…" She stuttered. "It's hard to explain! I mean, I don't think words can explain it!"  
"What are you talking ab…?"

Douglas was sharply cut off, when Neyla pressed her lips against his.

* * *

Author Notes: Oh yeah! How many saw THIS coming, huh? Not many methinks! Well, this parking lot scene has gone on for a while, but it ends in the next chapter. Then it's out of Moscow and onwards... Please review and let me know if you like this or if it's going well etc.


	13. Moscow? Must Go!

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 12 – Moscow? Must Go!

* * *

Douglas' eyes went wide with absolute shock. Constable Neyla, the same tigress who had made his life almost like a living nightmare for the past few years, was kissing him?

Abruptly, he broke the kiss by shoving her away from him. He raised his shotgun back up, pointing at her.

"Explain!" Douglas demanded, still in a state of shock about what had just happened. "And there better be a VERY good reason!"

Neyla, on the other hand, seemed to be a strange sort of bliss-fuelled trance. She just stood there, smiling. Slowly, her free hand moved up to her face. When it reached there, she slowly ran a finger over her lips.  
Douglas, a little freaked out about this, took a step back, watching the Interpol Constable.

"Softer than I imagined…" Neyla whispered.  
"Say what?" Douglas questioned.  
Snapping out of it, Neyla looked at Douglas.  
"Douglas… All this time I've been after you…" She was almost speaking breathlessly now, in a quiet and awe-struck way. "…It's never been to get you as a partner in the police."The fox was more than a little freaked out right now, but didn't say anything.

"I've just wanted you Douglas." Neyla said. "After the first time you got away, I knew it had to be you."  
The tigress just sighed, looking at the fox with a shine in her eyes that was rarely seen.

"What else can I say?" Neyla said. " I'm in love with you."

* * *

Carmelita's muffled screams could be heard, as she struggled, wide-eyed, against what the raccoon was doing.

At least, for a moment.

All of a sudden, the fox seemed to relax a little, her eyelids closing a little. Her mind was screaming no, but everything seemed to be betraying her…

Sly broke of the kiss, releasing Carmelita. She looked at him, and saw a look on his face that she'd never seen before. It seemed to be one of total happiness.

That didn't stop her from slapping him right across the face.

"Don't… You… EVER… Touch me like that again criminal!" Carmelita warned, her voice as serious as it has ever been.  
'I didn't deserve that, did I?' He thought as he rubbed his cheek, but he still had a broad smile on his face.  
"Damn you! Damn you Cooper!" Carmelita exclaimed.  
"For what?" Sly questioned. "I didn't slip you the tongue did I?"

The fox ignored that comment. "I try and slap some sense into, and you're STILL smiling?"  
The raccoon shrugged, as if he'd never given it a second thought.  
'No… Oh no…' Carmelita thought. 'Not again! He's doing this on purpose again!'

Once again, she was right. It seemed to her that for some unearthly reason, one that she could not figure out, anytime she and Sly were near each other, the wall around her heart seemed to crumble a little.

* * *

"Nice try Constable. You almost had me there!"  
"Wh… What?" This time Neyla was shocked.  
"I mean, saying that you're in love with me? Now even by your standards it's a dirty trick…"  
"I'm not lying!"  
"Yeah right. Now be a good girl and stand still…" Douglas stated, turning up his shotgun's setting.

* * *

This was not a good time for it to happen to the Interpol Inspector. Especially with Smicktor still around…

"Smicktor!" Carmelita exclaimed.  
"I'm sure that friend of yours has got it covered." Sly said. "Neyla, isn't it? What's up with her and Douglas anyway?"  
"Why should I tell you? You're the enemy!"  
"Only by profession."

"You knocked my gun out of my hand!"  
"Only in self defence. If it's that much of an issue, I'll get it back for you."  
"Sure you will Cooper." The fox rolled her eyes.  
"Have faith my dear." Sly smiled, as he knelt down over at the car where the gun was under.  
"You're serious?"

He didn't say anything, simply using the hook of his cane to gently pull the weapon out into his other hand. Still smiling, the raccoon stood up, and offered the gun back to its owner.  
"How are you sure that I'm not going to just turn this on you and arrest you?"  
"Believe it or not Carmelita, I do trust you."

* * *

_Hotel records indicate that the Back-Up Generators for the hotel activated at 12:00 hours, and re-powered up the lights in the underground car park._

Suddenly, the lights in the car park flashed back on. Douglas shielded his eye with his shotgun, temporarily blinded by the light. Neyla, recovering slightly quicker than Douglas, took the chance, and grabbed her whip back, before quickly running over the car next to her.

'Back-up generators.' Douglas thought. 'All the fancy hotels have them.'  
"Smicktor!" He heard the unmistakeable voice of Carmelita say.

The vixen grabbed her gun from Cooper's hand, and jumped on top of the nearest car roof, firing at the purple fox. In reply, he rolled under the blast, and from the knelled position he was in, fired a retaliation shot at her. She flipped of the car to the side, dodging the shot.

"What ever happened to the good old days of hand-to-hand combat?" Sly shouted across the area, watching the two foxes battle.  
"SHUT UP COOPER!" Carmelita roared, pointing her gun at him. "You're under arrest as well!"

That was all the distraction Douglas needed, as he quickly scrambled up and over the car next to him, before quickly running across the car next to it and dropping down behind it. By the time Carmelita looked back to where Smicktor was, he had vanished. Neyla then appeared out from behind where she had been hiding.

"Where's Smicktor?"  
"I thought you were keeping an eye on him!" The tigress stated.  
"I was watching him and…" She looked around the where Sly had been, but now he too had vanished. "NO! They've gone!"  
"Maybe they're both still here…"

At that moment, an ordinary-looking van advertising chocolate started to move along the road of the car park, going past the parked cars. Douglas looked up from his position, and saw the van coming towards him. Without another hesitation, he was running along its side and then jumped inside thanks to the rear doors being held open by Jason.

He and the rat then slammed the doors shut, and the van then roared into life, speeding down the road and then up the ramp exit. The sound of the engine caught the two Interpol cop's attention, but Carmelita put more to the familiar sight of the Cooper van going up the exit ramp at the other side of the car park.

"CRIMINALS!" She roared, firing a shot off at the van, but was far too late to hit the target.

A silence then followed, as the two women stood in the car park.

'He didn't believe me…' Neyla thought. 'Why didn't he believe me? It was the truth!'  
"They got away…" Carmelita thought aloud. "I can't believe it! The BOTH got away!"  
"Believe it. But don't worry yourself, they'll be other chances to get them."  
"I guess so… No, you're right. I'll get Cooper next time."

With that said, the vixen turned and walked towards the elevator. The tigress did this as well, but gave a last glance towards where the van that had Douglas in had left.

'You can't escape me Douglas.' Neyla thought. 'You WILL be mine!'

* * *

Location: The Cooper Van, The Streets of Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 12:07

"Bentley! Have you found them?" Sly asked, keeping a watchful eye on the road ahead.  
"Sorry Sly…" The turtle began explaining. "…But without a tracker on their van, and the fact that they used another exit out of the car park, it's like looking for a needle in a giant haystack!"  
"Don't fear Citizens!" 'The' Murray stated, whilst still driving. "What does not kill us, only make us stronger. There shall be another day for victory!"

'I hope so…' Sly thought. 'I really hope so…'

* * *

Location: Office of Veronica Palace, Moscow Police HQ, Moscow.  
Time: 12:24

"So, let me try to understand what you're telling me here…" Veronica said, as she paced up and down behind her desk. Sat in front of the desk were Inspector Fox and Constable Neyla. "You allowed BOTH Smicktor AND Cooper to escape with their respective backup?"  
"Yes… Yes Ma'am." Carmelita replied.

Veronica stopped pacing, and placed both of her hands on the desk, staring at both of the Interpol officers directly.  
"Do you two realise what this means?" The cat asked.  
"That…" Neyla was about to answer.

"It means that the whole world is going to be cast into a shadow of fear, THAT'S WHAT!" Veronica roared, causing the vixen and tigress to jump back in their seats. "The Fiendish Five are coming back, and are probably already plotting something as we speak! Plus, there's this KLAWW Gang, and from the injuries sustained by those two officers, this Smicktor is highly dangerous! This may be the biggest threat to the world since, since… EVER!"

"Uh, I'm sorry to correct you Miss, but Cooper took out one of the…"  
"That is of no importance Inspector!" The cat quickly interrupted the vixen. "I suggest you read this!"  
Veronica then opened a drawer in her desk, pulled out a newspaper, and slammed it down onto the desk.

"That should help you understand the problems we're now in. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to accompany the Clockwerk Brain back to 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Centre. No doubt the rest of the Clockwerk parts will have to be put under increased police protection. That Smicktor seems capable of anything…"

Veronica then walked out of the office, leaving the vixen and tigress to examine the shocking headline of the newspaper.

* * *

Location: The Fiendish Five getaway van, the roads of Russia.  
Time: 12:43

Since leaving Moscow, Douglas hadn't said a word. All he'd done was just stare out of the window at the road behind him. A part of him had questioned how they were able to get away without anyone following them at all. Plus, it was starting to snow again.

"Unfortunately, it's still quite a long way to the base." Jason sighed, looking over at the fox.  
'Great.' Douglas thought. 'Just what I don't need, a road trip with him.' The fox looked at the rat.  
"But you'll be able to change out of that suit once we're there. After that, I can formally introduce you to some of our most important team players. Then, we can discuss the final big mission we need you to do."

"You're assuming that I'll do it though." The fox stated.  
"Oh, I know you will."  
"We'll see…" He said, before he turned to look back out of the window.

Douglas had a very, very bad feeling that this whole situation was going to quickly get worse for him. He seemed to have enemies on all sides in this 'war', and this time he couldn't just slip away unnoticed.

He was in far too deep.

* * *

Author's Notes: FINALLY we are done with Moscow! And ifyou thinksthings couldn't get more complex, then you are NOT prepaired for what happens next when Douglas arrives at the Fiendish base.

Paper Machete- I wanted to show off the styles of the characters in this. Sly is calm, collected, stealthy and only attacks when it's nessicary. Douglas uses stealth as well, but is far more violent, angry and erratic. Neyla is quiet cowardly, and prefers flight to fight under pressure; while Carmelita will stand her ground and fight 'till the end.  
Nee Knight- Thanks for the support. I know 'the kiss' was unexpected, but it was just what I needed to explain certain issues.

I have nothing more to say, except that I am very excited at the rumours that Dimitri will be a playable character in Sly 3. You have no idea.


	14. In the Heart

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 13 – In the Heart

* * *

Location: The Fiendish Five getaway van, Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 16:59

"Where are we? All I've seen for the past hour is mountains!"  
"We're just at the base of the Klyuchevskaya volcano, which happens to be the only active volcano in the whole of Russia!"  
"And we are because?"

Jason smiled as he turned his head, looking at the fox who was staring over the top of the van's front seats at the sight ahead.  
"They nicknamed this road: 'A Hazardous Path'." He said, before turning his attention back to the front.  
"Hazardous Path? I've heard of that…"

Douglas took another look at the sight ahead of him. The rocks around were all jagged and unfriendly. Large boulders were perched at the top of cliff faces, almost as if they were waiting for the right time, or victim, to begin an avalanche.

Dark clouds loomed overhead. Strangely, they didn't seem to be rain clouds at all, or formed from any kind of weather. It was as if they were turned into being like that just by being near. In fact, everything in the surrounding area seemed to have a grey sinister aura to it.

Douglas' eyes went wide. He knew where he was. He'd heard the stories, the legends and the myths about this place. Never in his worst nightmares did he ever believe that he'd come here.

"The Cold Heart of Hate…" He said, in almost a whispering voice of disbelief.  
"Welcome to the Fiendish Five base of operations, and the residence of Clockwerk himself." Jason proudly announced, as if it was a glorious thing.

Intimidated didn't even come close to describing how Douglas was feeling at that moment.

"Oh, and don't worry." Jason said, "The boys in security will have seen us minutes ago, so the self-defence systems will be off now. Anyone else would be as good as gone by now."

'Didn't stop Cooper's gang.' Douglas thought, disregarding the rat's comment.

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:22

"Those things are staring at me." Douglas stated, pointing his shotgun at a group of Fire Slugs who were looking at him.  
"Don't worry, no-ones been harmed by any of them since… Uh, 2 months ago I think…"  
"They're looking at me as if I'm dinner." The fox clicked his weapon on, ready to blast away if they tried anything.

"We're finished unloading Sir." The squid announced.  
"Okay Squidcraft. Douglas! Come along now, let me show around and I'll fill you in on some of the details about this place and us."

With a last warning glare towards the Slugs, the fox followed Jason out of the cavern area and into a metallic corridor.

"As I've said, this place used to just be Clockwerk's dwelling. But after the tragic fall of our leader, we've taken it upon ourselves to modify it. It's now the central base of operations for all of the Fiendish Five's criminal activities. We keep in close contact with the gangs across the globe."  
"Gangs?"

Jason didn't answer, instead walking through the large metal door that slid open in front of him, followed by Douglas. The fox found himself in what seemed to be the world's largest collection of computers and monitors that ever existed. Every consol had an operator working on it, and there were others running about with printouts and documents.

"This is the busiest we've every been since the fall of Clockwerk. Not surprising really."  
"Yeah, since 'someone' has been unwittingly collecting all the Clockwerk parts!"  
"I hope you're not going to dwell on that. Besides, that's not the only reason… Which reminds me. Hey, you!"

Jason grabbed a hold of a dog carrying a folder.  
"When are they expected to arrive?"  
"Uh, any moment now Sir!" Was the answer to the rat's question.  
"Good, carry on." He let the dog go, and turned back to Douglas. "It won't be too long now."  
"Great. More waiting. What 'surprise' do you have for me now?"

"It's quite simple really. Although many gang members fled or got arrested when Inspector Fox 'captured' the individual gang leaders of the Five, there were enough dedicated followers remaining to continue to work for what their leader had created and started. Once word got out that the gangs were still there, many members returned. Over the past few months, and especially the last week, membership and activity has been at an all-time high. Together, we've been able to almost bring the Fiendish Five back to the levels they were at before Cooper destroyed out hard work."

"Once a thief, always a thief huh?"  
"That's one way of looking at it. But this is actually more down to you than anything else. Moral had obviously been very low since Clockwerk's fall. The leaders were imprisoned at the four corners of the globe, Interpol was full of themselves, and Cooper seemed unbeatable. Then you…"

Jason turned around, and looked at the fox with a strange look of admiration in his eyes.  
"You came along and saved us by bringing the Clockwerk parts to us. With every little piece, our future got slightly better, and better, and better! Now the end of this terrible part of our history is almost over!"  
"Let me guess, you want me to get the last parts back for you guys."  
"Oh, much more than that! This is going to be the biggest, boldest, greatest, most awe-inspiring criminal heist ever constructed, carried out and accomplished!"

"They're here!" The dog from earlier burst back into the room, look the most exited he'd ever been in his life.  
"Who?" Jason demanded.  
"All of them!"  
"Oh my… Oh my god! EVERYONE! Get ready to greet our leaders!"

There was an excited rush around, as workers lined up in front of their workstations, and the people on the floor stood against the walls.

"Wait, leaders?" Douglas questioned. "Are you talking about the same leaders of…?"  
"It's made all the headlines." Jason whispered, standing at attention beside the fox.

* * *

Location: Safe house of the Cooper Gang, Moscow, Russia.  
Time: 17:25

"'MASS ESCAPE OF FIENDISH LEADERS'". Bentley read the headline aloud again.  
"Just when you thought things couldn't get worse." Sly sighed, reading his copy of the newspaper. "Then this."  
"Villains." Murray summed up, having given up a while ago trying to understand the long words the newspaper used, but from what the others had said, he knew what was happening.

"That's 3 loose, plus Smicktor and most of Clockwerk." The racoon stated. "I'm sorry Bentley, but this time, we have to do something drastic."  
"Sly, they have the advantage. Not just in numbers, but we have no idea where they're hiding. Unless they've gone back to their old bases, which I highly doubt."  
"I don't mean like that."

"What do you mean then Sly?" Murray asked, unsure where this all was going.  
"We have to take real action, and since attacking the Fiendish Five is out of the question, then we have to go after Smicktor."  
"But Sly!" Bentley began, but the racoon cut him off again.  
"The only way we'll get Smicktor, is by getting the parts still available to get."  
"Sly, be serious! Those parts are… Wait… Sly! You don't mean!"

"Absolutely. We may not know much about this Smicktor guy, but what we do know indicates that he won't leave a paying job unfinished. And we all know the Fiendish Five can pay. So we have to stop him from finishing this job. What better way to do that then by waiting for him where the parts are, and then taking him down?"

"Sly, I must say that is the most brilliant thing to ever come out of your mouth." Bentley stated. "I just have one question."  
"What's that?"  
"What have you done with the real Sly Cooper?"  
"…Geez, thanks for the ego-boost their Bentley."

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:26

The sound of guns being fired off suddenly rang out through the air, making everyone even more nervous than before. Apart from Douglas, who was far more apprehensive than before.

Before he could question what was going on, the left side doors suddenly flung open, and in walked one of the most imposing sites Douglas had even seen in his life. Decked out in jeans that could hardly contain the bulging muscles, and a likewise white tank top, with a gun-holster belt, was a very large and well-built hound. In each of his hands was a very large revolver.

He howled loudly at the room, as did the group of dogs behind him, all dressed in 'gangster' like outfits, before firing off some rounds of gun-fire into the air.

Douglas couldn't believe it. Was he actually seeing whom he thought he was seeing?

The right side doors then opened up, and out of it leapt ninja monkeys, who seemed to be checking out the room for any dangers. Then followed more monkeys, but dressed in oriental guard uniforms. They acted as bodyguards to the large panda that then entered the room, dressed in a very regal and impressive manner. He made no move once he had entered; only nodding respectfully to the hound opposite.

The far back doors flung open, and many squawking chickens suddenly were forced into the room by strange 'swamp' creatures wearing skull masks and wielding bones. A female alligator followed them, who was dressed in strange weaved clothing, with many frightening looking charms and bracelets all over her.

Douglas, not for the first time this week, felt his jaw hit the floor. He was actually in the same room as Muggshot, The Panda King, and Mz. Ruby.

He was in the presence of true evil.

* * *

Author's Notes: Once again we're about to pick up speed plotwise now. And in a big way.

Nee Knight- The 'tongue' line just had to be included. It was exceptionally 'Sly-like', in my opinion. If you thought Douglas was having problems before, you ain't seen nothing yet.  
Mimic12355- The Neyla being in love with Douglas idea wasn't even in place when I started this fic, but I realised that I needed something to seperate this 'pairing' from why Carmelita was after Sly. The original plan was that Neyla wanted Douglas as a 'partner in crime', with the two of them being crooked cops, but it wasn't enough  
Geopoliticus- Thanks for liking the Neyla/Douglas storyline, and Douglas as my fan-character. You'll see in the future how badly Neyla wants Douglas, and how his rejection to her effects her.  
Noalyn- I loved your term of 'fatal attraction' for Douglas. It certainly seems that way. All I can say is that it gets both worse and better in the future.

Well I certainly have nothing of importance to say, apart from the big job in store for Douglas is exactally that: BIG. Peace out and all that stuff.


	15. The Next Phase

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 14 – The Next Phase

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:29

"This place looks mighty different…" Muggshot remarked, looking around the room. "Do any of those get cable TV?" He pointed a gun at one of the computer monitor set-ups. "If so, I know where we're watchin' the game tonight! Right boys!"  
His dog entourage gave a howl of approval.

"It is far more productive." The Panda King stated. "Jason!"  
Quickly, the rat ran forward.  
"Yes Sir?" He said, extremely nervous.  
"You have done well here. Honour and prosperity shall come into your future."  
"Th…Thank you Sir!"  
"I get locked up for a few months and now everyone thinks they can tell the future!" Mz. Ruby said. "What is this world coming to?"

"Well, it's great that you're all back!" Jason warmly said, now feeling much better. "Things can really pick up around here, and…"  
"Yeah! What's this I've heard about some big plan?" Muggshot interrupted.  
"Yes, it is of great importance that we discuss it."  
"Oh don't you all worry!" Ruby reassured them. "Once our 'star agent' arrives, we'll talk 'till the moon comes out."

"As long as we get goin' soon. My finger's itchin' to pull a trigger."  
"I concur. My hand-crafted explosives techniques were wasted in prison." The Panda King agreed. "Not forgetting that our organisation will function at its highest capacity when we are all reunited." He concluded.  
"The less talkin' the better!" Muggshot said. "I can't handle all them long words…"

Douglas looked behind him. The various workers of the machines and computers were standing rigid at attention. Beads of sweat were on all of their faces, and each took quick, worried breaths.

'They say fear and respect go hand in hand…' The fox thought. 'But all I see is fear…'  
'Are you afraid?' A voice suddenly asked in his head, startling him. He looked around him, trying to find the source of it out of instinct.

His vision was drawn towards Mz. Ruby. She was smiling at him, with a glint in her eye.  
'That's right Douglas, I'm talking to you.' Her voice said in his mind.  
'…Say what?' He was confused, totally and utterly confused.  
'I'm not the Voodoo Priestess of this group for nothing you know! But let's just say that it sometimes goes a little further… Oh boy, you got some mean mojo in you, I can tell… No wonder Clockwerk believed in you…'  
'Say what?'

"And who's this scrawny punk?" Muggshot demanded, pointing one of his large guns at Douglas.  
"NO!" Jason quickly ran and stood in front of the fox. "This is Douglas! He's been helping us!"  
"Ah yes… Collecting the parts of our leader Clockwerk. A most honourable deed." The Panda King said.  
"Not if anyone calls me scrawny again…" Douglas said under his breath, gripping onto his shotgun.

Muggshot snorted, unimpressed. "Well, that's one heck of a piece ya got there." He motioned at the fox's gun. "Just don't be disrespectin' it with any lame shooting."

Knowing full well what Douglas' reply might be, Jason quickly backed the fox away a little.  
"Well now that we're all introduced…" The rat quickly said, ignoring the death glares being shot at him by Douglas. "It shouldn't be long before…"  
"Sir!" One of the computer technicians shouted down. "It's arriving! I mean, they're arriving!"

"Excellent." The Panda King said. "Jason, take us to the planning room."  
"At once!" The rat quickly answered.

Jason began walking out of the room, still holding onto Douglas. The fox quickly shoved the rat off, nearly pushing him onto the floor. There was no way he was walking beside him. Instead, Douglas stepped aside; letting the Fiendish Five leaders follow the rat, before he followed them.

'What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Douglas thought, shaking his head.  
'Oh, you haven't seen anything yet boy!' Ruby answered, speaking in his mind again.

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:35

"In here!" Jason announced, leading the group through another large door.

Douglas entered last, moving around the leaders to see the room for himself. The walls were covered in plans, maps and diagrams, and there were some more workers using computers while others were carrying documents and printouts. It certainly looked like a planning room.

But what really caught his attention were the items on the long table at the far-end of the room.  
"The results of your fine work for us." Jason stated, seeing what the fox was staring at

Walking forward, the fox cautiously approached the table.

"Every piece of Clockwerk not in police 'protection' is in our hands. That's an estimated seventy-five percent, give or take a few feathers." The rat added.  
"A few?" Douglas questioned, glancing over his shoulder before looking back at the table. "No offence to you guys, but this just looks like a load of nuts and blots!"  
"Yes…" Jason's expression changed to one of slight anger. "You can thank Arpeggio of the KLAWW Gang for that…".

The rat continued to talk, but the fox paid no attention to him.

'It's hard to believe that all of this stuff IS Clockwerk…' Douglas thought. 'But even just looking at it all makes me feel weird. It's like someone turned off the heating inside me.'

Curiosity got the better of him. Actually, something told him to proceed further, telling him that looking wasn't enough. This was the first time he'd ever seen what he'd been collecting for the Fiendish Five. He just couldn't get over just how unnaturally creepy it looked.

Extending an arm out, he let it move over the various parts on the table, before picking up a medium sized bolt. An instant chill came over his hand, worse than picking up a snowball or some ice-cubes. Strangely, it wasn't a sore coldness, so Douglas didn't feel the need to put it back down again.

"My god, he's holding Clockwerk…" Jason whispered, shocked at what he saw.  
"As I predicted." Mz. Ruby said. "A basic mindset of 'everything to gain, nothing to lose'."  
"That ain't why Clockwerk picked him though, is it?" Muggshot questioned.  
"Of course not, but we won't find out until we put him back together."

Putting down the part back on the table, the fox turned around to look at the Fiendish Five members.  
"Okay, so what now?" He asked  
"Now we're just waiting for her to arrive with the other part, then we can get set for…" Jason started to say.  
"Wait, who's this 'her' you're talking about?"

A new group entering the room, carrying a large security box with them, answered Douglas's question.  
"About time!" Muggshot said. "What took you so long girl?"  
"I had to get some distance from the Inspector and that Constable first, plus a couple of forms to sign and so forth. Is he here?"  
"Of course Smicktor's here!" Jason stated. "Right over there."

Douglas blinked, looking at the female walking towards him. He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Her? No, it couldn't possibly be…

"Douglas, it's finally good to meet you on the same team." She said. "Allow me to fully introduce myself. My name is Veronica Palace, and I'm a double agent for the Fiendish Five in the World Police Force."

The fox's jaw hit the floor. Did she really just say that?

"Your true identity obviously has not been discovered yet Palace." The Panda King stated.  
"Of course!" Veronica stated. "They'll believe anything!"  
"Finally we've got the Clockwerk Brain! Now can we please discuss the plan now?"  
"Fine fine…" The cat said. "We'll meet up in the Planning Room in 15 minutes…"

"Why the wait?" Muggshot demanded.  
"I need to explain some things to our friend here." She said, motioning to Douglas.

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:42

"If you could at least give me SOME straight answers, then maybe I'd start understanding what's going on around here!" Douglas stated, leaning against the corridor wall.

"Clockwerk is criminal mastermind, a complete genius." Veronica started explaining. "He has more brain-power then most give him any credit for. That goes beyond making use of what technology was available at the time to enhance himself to keep him alive only off of pure hatred towards the Coopers. How long do you think he's been alive for?"

"Uh, from the rumours I've heard… A couple of hundred years?" Douglas replied  
"Thousands, before the Egyptians started building empires."  
"What?"

"You have no idea, in fact, no one really has any idea how much Clockwerk despises the Coopers. The Fiendish Five was created for that purpose – kill Sly Cooper."  
"Right, so how do you fit in?"

"For that same reason. The Fiendish Five has two purposes: To bring in money so Clockwerk can continue with research and so on to allow him to live on, and destroy the Coopers. But as the Fiendish Five became more noticed and infamous, they needed not only protection from being brought down, but from other gangs."  
"One of their own in the police. Now that's clever." The fox stated.

"Who knows better where criminals are going to be hiding, or carrying out heists? Criminals themselves. I'd get the information of activity from the Fiendish, then go and arrest them. That's how I got my 'uncanny ability' to solve every crime. From pickpockets to counterfeiters, I got them all."  
"Damn…"

"It gets better. Now that I have so much respect, I can give orders and they won't be questioned. So if I tell people a suspect van is headed out to a location and it turns out to be wrong, I can pass the blame off to some officer who gets investigate, and no one suspects a thing."

Smirking, the cat flicked her hair back behind her shoulder, resting an arm on the wall and leaning in close to Douglas.

"I've been your guardian angel since you started working for us." She whispered into his ear.  
"Uh… No offence, but angel isn't the right word for you." The fox replied.  
"Oh, I know." She winked. "But we can always pretend."

* * *

Location: The Cold Heart of Hate (aka Clockwerk's Lair/Fiendish Five HQ), Klyuchevskaya volcano, Russia  
Time: 17:55

"Okay everyone, can I have your attention please?" Veronica asked, looking around the people sat at the large round table in the middle of the room. Muggshot, The Panda King, Mz. Ruby, Jason and Douglas were all seated, waiting for the plan.

The cat activated a switch, and a large hologram graphic appeared in the middle of the table, showing the image of a large prison complex.

"You guys ever play video games on this thing?" Douglas asked.  
"What?" Jason was confused.

"This is the 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Centre, outside of San Francisco, U.S.A. It is here where our colleague Raleigh is being held, along with the last remaining parts of Clockwerk. Will obviously need them both not only to rebuild Clockwerk, but to have someone actually capable of doing so."

"It is an extremely difficult area to infiltrate and escape from, unless you're being transported in to serve some hard time. Features include barbed wire fences, searchlights, and numerous guards inside and out. Security is top-notch as would be expected. However, for all its qualities, it is not impossible to defeat."

"So how do we do it?" Douglas asked.  
"Ah, that's where you play a large part Douglas." Veronica smiled as she explained. "Now that the world knows the Fiendish Five is back in business, we don't have to be so secretive with some of our actions."

"I will be transporting the security box, containing the Clockwerk Brain, to the Centre. However, instead of the brain being in there, you will be Douglas."  
"Right…"

"Once inside, you'll wait for the signal to proceed. Then you'll secure the parts holding zone where you'll be in before heading off to release Raleigh from his cell."  
"Sounds simple enough…" Douglas replied, full of sarcasm.

"Don't worry, we'll give you equipment and radio support throughout, and once you've reached Raleigh we'll be ready to move in and get you guys and the parts out."  
"How?"

"With The Panda King's explosives skills, Muggshots's sharp-shooting, and using Raleigh's infamous weather-blimp, we'll fly you guys right out in no time!"

"Nice and simple, I like it." Muggshot stated.  
"I agree. The less complications, the better."  
"So we're all agreed?" Jason asked.  
"What am I getting out of this?" Douglas asked.

Jason smiled, pulling out a large suitcase from under the table and sliding it over to the fox.  
"This happens to be part of the bonus you'll receive for this mission." The rat stated. "Take a look."

Cautiously, while watching Jason's expression, Douglas opened the case up, before looking at the contents.

"WOAH!" He exclaimed. "Are those ALL hundred-coin notes?"  
"That's just part of the bonus for THIS mission. Plus not forgetting the final bonus when Clockwerk's back together, and a few other things…"  
"Oh, I am so in!" Douglas said, closing the case.

Veronica smiled again.  
"Excellent. Then rest up friends, for tomorrow we set about ending this dark chapter in the Fiendish Five's history…"

* * *

Author's Notes: Yeah, sorry for lack of updates, but I lost the ablilty to use my mind to think up words for a while.

Nee Knight- Dunno what happened with your review, it looks like it got cut off mid sentence, but i guess you were saying something about Moscow again. I'm the writer here, and I'll break my own word when I see fit! Insert evil laugh  
MarineManiac- Uh no the lizard wasn't Dimitri. You should read through it all and see.  
Mimic12355- Thanks for the support  
Noalyn- Agains thanks for the support, by the way hows the pic of Douglas coming along?

Next time we'll catch up on what the Cooper Gang, Carmelita and Neyla are going to now.


	16. Desert Storm Part 1

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 15

* * *

" 'Rest up friends', that's what she'd said. Yeah,easy for you to say. I didn't fall asleep 'till the early hours. I just stayed up, thinking about what a mess I'd gotten myself into. Although 'mess' isn't the right word.

War. That sums it up better.

Six months ago, I didn't think much would come of that mysterious phone call. Just grab a bag, and deliver it to a drop-off point. I'd done it before. When that car pulled up, I'd meet the guy who I'd come to want to see and hate to see at the same time.

It was that first 'reward' for a job well done that really got me hooked. It was a lot, and when he said 'there's plenty more of those for you', I thought I'd have to be dumber than a box of rocks to say no.

Of course, I didn't realize that all those little jobs would lead me here. Sitting in the security box, that had previously contained the Clockwerk Brain, being transported to the 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Centre to break out Raleigh AND get the rest of the Clockwerk parts.

I felt stuck in the void between happiness and sadness. On one hand, I was working for the Fiendish Five. THE Fiendish Five! That instantly meant respect, fear, protection, all that stuff. On the other hand, I was now an international target for the police, not to mention that the Cooper Gang (and probably this KLAWW Gang as well) would be out to get me.

I'm a target by association. I'm not 'one' of the Fiendish Five after all. Not that I'd ever want to be either. Hopefully I can deal with all of that after I get my money and get out of their buisness.

A quick check of my clothing - slightly baggy and worn jeans, black trainers, brown 'working' gloves, and my good old worn 'hoddie' top. I was dressed for the occasion, sure, but that was about it. Plus this weird radio-communication device hidden in my ear would take some getting used to.

A tap on the roof of the box caught my attention. 'We're arriving just now'. Veronica said. 'I'll take you into the room with the other Clockwerk Parts, then you can follow the plan from there.'

I gave a knock on the side to confirm that I understood.

'Don't worry.' She added, trying to reassure me. 'Every thing's running smoothly.'

Yeah, it's just 'Running Like Clockwerk'."

* * *

_Douglas Smicktor_ and _Sly Cooper_in:

'Desert Storm'

* * *

Location: Helicopter landing pad, 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Center, San Francisco, U.S.A.  
Time: 13:12

Veronica stepped out of the helicopter, a firm smile on her face as she looked around her. With a simple hand motion, the guards waiting on the rooftop quickly moved to unload the Security box which they believed to be containing the Clockwerk Brain.

She began walking towards the doorway, the guards pushing the box after her. She was completely confident that this operation's success was guaranteed.

That was until she went through the door.

"Fox? Neyla?" Veronica questioned who she was seeing. "What's going on?"  
"Extra security." The Inspector answered. "It can't be a coincidence that the Fiendish Five escape and Clockwerk parts have been collected. It's obvious that the next target would be here."

Neyla simply nodded in reply, glancing over at the security box.

"...Extra security? At one of the most well guarded, protected and respected prisons in the world?" Veronica said, regaining herself. "I'm sure you two mean well, but is this really, and I do mean REALLY necessary?"  
"Without a doubt." Carmelita said. "It makes perfect sense."  
"Sense? From two obsessive Interpol cops? I find that hard to believe!"

"Obsessive?" The vixen and the tigress exclaimed.  
"Perhaps you two were hoping to catch Sly Cooper, or this Smicktor that's been talked about, trying to break in? Be serious ladies! This place has ground and air radar detection systems. Even a fly 20 miles away shows up on the scanners."  
"Both of them got into the Conference undetected, and out!" Neyla pointed out.

"And it was you two who let them get away if I remember right." Veronica snapped back. "You two will only complicate things further. Guards, take the box to the Clockwerk Vault. I'm going to call Interpol and have you two officially removed from this Center immediately!"

"Miss Palace!" Carmelita exclaimed, following the cat. "You don't understand!"

Neyla just shook her head, before deciding to follow the guards.

In the box, Douglas tapped the device in his ear.

"Guys? Did you catch all of that?" He whispered.  
"We heard it!" Jason replied over the radio.  
"Well?"  
"...Well what?"  
"The plan moron! Does it change or what?"

"Give me that thing!" Mz. Ruby said, the sound of a rat being pushed out of the way being heard as well. "Don't you worry boy, my mojo's tellin' me that every thing's just fine. You'll just need to be a little more careful, that's all."  
"Great." Douglas replied. "That just fills me with confidence."

* * *

Location: Front entrance gate, 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Center, San Francisco, U.S.A.  
Time: 13:12

The security guard snorted, holding his hand out to stop the approaching van. When it had come to a stop, he walked around to the driver's seat.  
"Clearance form please." The guard said, holding out his hand.

The driver, a pink hippo dressed in a repairman's uniform, handed over a blue piece of paper.

"...Hmm... Electronics repairs huh? Well, the TV picture has been playing up a little... Alright, go on through."

The driver nodded, before driving forward, and around the building. The van stopped beside an external power-box. Out of the back doors a raccoon jumped out holding a link-cable,also dressed as a repairman. He quickly opened up the box, put the cable into the socket, and flipped a switch.

He then went back into the van, closing the doors enough so no one could look in.

"Alright Bentley, it's all hooked up. Hack away." The raccoon said, throwing off the repairman's hat and putting on a blue, better fitting one.  
"No problem Sly!" The turtle at a computer replied. "The security will be down in just a few moments."

* * *

Location: 'Clockwerk Vault', 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Center, San Francisco, U.S.A.  
Time: 13:14

"You can leave now." Neyla told the guards.

She watched them exit, leaving her alone in the room with two security boxes. One contained the Clockwerk Brain, and the other held the remaining parts of Clockwerk.

"Old 'Iron-Sides' is out of her mind." She told herself. "Not even Douglas, let alone Cooper, would try to bust into this place. Why The Contessa sent me here I'll never figure out."  
'Figure out somewhere else!' Douglas thought. 'I don't want to be stuck in this box for the rest of the day!'

Neyla walked over to the 'Brain' box, and leaned against it.

"Douglas... What have you gotten yourself into this time?" The tigress spoke again. "It seems you've finally poked your head out of the underground. But taking orders from the Fiendish Five? That's very unlike you..."  
'Man, I'm getting nauseous just listening to her voice!' The fox thought. 'If she doesn't get out of here sharpish, I'm gonna have to...'

The sound of Neyla's radio-transmitter going off broke both of their thoughts.

"Yes?" She said into the device.  
"Neyla! Some thing's happening!" Carmelita's voice replied. "The security's just gone down!"  
"I'm on my way!" The tigress replied, both heading out of the room.

A few moments later, Douglas pushed the lid of the 'Brain' box open and climbed out of it.

"Some thing's wrong here!" Jason's voice stated. "We're not in range to disable the security yet!"  
"Malfunction?" Douglas questioned.  
"Highly unlikely. That system is one of the best. So unless someone shut it down..."  
"Alright then! Let's do this plan then!" Douglas stated, running out of the room.

* * *

Location: 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Center, San Francisco, U.S.A.  
Time: unknown (following events estimated from 13:15)

"Okay Bentley, I'm in." Sly said, kneeling down and looking down the hallway through his Binoc-ucom.  
"Ah, just as I suspected." Bentley said. "The back-up system is still in operation. Toned down security is still operational, but still enough to set off the alarms. You'll have to get to the main security control room in order to shut it down. Then Murray will be able to get in, and the two of you can get those Clockwerk out of there and into the van. "  
"Alright, I'll just have to work my way around them." The raccoon replied. "It may take a while, but I'll get there."

Putting his Binoc-ucom away, Sly ran forward, easily running through the gap between the beams of two searchlights as they panned to the side of the corridor. He paused, letting two beams cross in front of him, before running through the gap they left as they moved to the side.

He put his back against the wall, carefully edging himself under the search light above him that lit up the other wall, until he was safely away from the beam.

The next lights were on ground level, completely covering the floor. Sly jumped, using his cane to hook onto loops overhead, and using them to swing and jump across the lights, landing on the safe ground on the other side. He was right next to a ladder.

"Good work Sly!" Bentley said. "Take that ladder up to the top to get to the Security Control floor."  
The raccoon jumped onto the ladder, before climbing upwards.

Moments later, Douglas climbed down the very same ladder.

"Coast is clear. No-one in sight." The fox confirmed.  
"Head through that door. It leads into the prison area."

Douglas went through the door, and looked around the area. He scanned the prison cells, until he found the people he was looking for. A group of walruses, and squid all dressed in workmen's overalls. He ran over to the door of their cell, and with one smash of his night-stick he broke the lock open.

"Hey! What's goin' on?" One of them questioned.  
"It's a break out." Douglas answered. "You, Raleigh and some Clockwerk parts. Now listen up guys, this is what's going down..."

* * *

Neyla went to run into the office, but ended up running into Carmelita as she was running out.

"You are over reacting Inspector!" Veronica shouted. "Admittedly, this has never happened in this Centre's history, but it is an unfortunate coincidence..."  
"It's no coincidence! It's Cooper!" The vixen stated. "He's after those Clockwerk Parts! I've got him cornered!"

Neyla scrambled back to her feet, following after the Inspector.

Veronica watched them leave, before smirking.  
'How chaotic...' She thought. 'Perhaps they aren't going to be such a problem after all...'

The cat's radio suddenly bleeped into life.

"Miss Palace! The back up system has just gone off-line! Repeat, the back up..." Just as quickly as it had started, the voice suddenly died in static.  
'...Communications off-line as well, which means that the Storm Machine is in range... Perfect...'

* * *

"Douglas, what's you're position?" Jason asked.  
"I'm outside of the security door. How about Raleigh's Gang?"  
"They've secured the parts, and are in position. All you need to do is to get over the security in there, switch it off, then get out of there before the timer expires."  
"What kind of security?"  
"Oh nothing much. Searchlights, security beams, nothing I'm sure you can't handle."

Douglas growled in annoyance. 'Time to wing it again.' He thought, carefully pushing the door open and peeking inside.

"...What security?" He questioned.  
"What?" The rat was surprised. "That back-up is down as well?"  
"Forget the plan!" Douglas announced, pushing the door wide open and entering the room. "Something screwy is going on, and I don't like it!"

Across the room, from behind of a reinforced cell, smiled a crocked grin of a frog wearing a slightly crocked top hat.

"Ah! My fabled rescuer has arrived!" He said. "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Raleigh of the Fiendish Five! Perhaps you remember me as 'R'."  
"Yeah, makes sense." Douglas said. "Your gang's waiting with the parts in the lift."  
"Oh yes, just as Mz. Ruby said. My status as Chief Machinist will be put to the test putting the old bird back together! NOW BLAST THIS INFERNAL LOCK OFF THIS DOOR, AND LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" He exclaimed in his trademark 'fury' voice.

Douglas had no problem in lifting up his shotgun and blasting the lock off the door. Raleigh then bounced out of the door.

"Lead the way!" Raleigh commanded. "The less time spent in the abominable compound the better!"

* * *

Carmelita burst into the room, her gun ready to blast away anything moving.

"NO!" She exclaimed. "One of the boxes is gone! Cooper's beaten us to it!"  
"Not surprising, considering how long it took us to get back here." Neyla stated, entering the room after her.  
"Us? You should have never left!"  
"You were the one that called me!" The tigress replied. "I wouldn't have bothered if you had kept your mouth shut!"

* * *

"Glad you could make it Murray." Sly stated.  
"It was no task for The Murray!" The hippo replied.  
"Okay guys..." Bentley said. "The Clockwerk parts are just in the room you're standing outside of. Just get the box to the security lift and ride it down to the ground floor. Then it should be just a simple corridor to the van."

"Okay, let's go Murray." The raccoon said, leading Murray into the room.

* * *

Author's Notes: I've not had internet access for a while. That's my excuse. This chapter is a quite rapid, but the next one (or perhaps few) will be different.

Heiduska- Thanks for your review. Yeah, it was fun writing the Sly/Carmelita kiss scene. I had a good time thinking up that one.  
Xhavius- Thanks, and I'll try and not let you down.  
Mimic12355- Oh, Douglas will get paid. But at what price? (It'll make sense later, trust me.)  
Nee Knight- Douglas does have a 'mean' streak that you'll see more off. Oh, and keep a look out for more of the connection between Douglas and Clockwerk. That's all I'm saying...


	17. Desert Storm Part 2

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 16 - Desert Storm Part 2

* * *

"FREEZE CRIMINALS!" Carmelita roared, firing off round after round from her Shock Pistol as she and Neyla chased Sly and Murray down the corridor.

"Uh, Bentley, I have a little bad news for you..." Sly said into his radio as he ran.  
"If it's about the weather, I know!" The turtle replied. "Rain isn't expected in this area for months, and it looks like it could get worse!"  
"Yeah, interesting. Listen Bentley; we'll have to hold off getting the parts until I shake off Inspector Fox."  
"Yeah! The Murray suggests a swift retreat!" The hippo added.

"All right Sly, try and hold them off while I think off a way out of this mess!"  
"Let's split up Murray, we'll meet up back at the rendezvous!" Sly announced, darting down a corridor to his left.

"After them!" Carmelita announced, chasing after Sly as Murray headed down the opposite route.  
Neyla glanced at the hippo, then shook her head in disgust.

'How long has old Iron-Sides been after these guys?' She thought to herself, before following after the Inspector.

* * *

"Come in Jason." Douglas spoke into his radio. "We're in the lift, with all the parts, on the extraction floor."  
"Raleigh and his gang?" The rat asked.  
"They're all here."  
"Of course we're all here!" Raleigh announced. "Where is my Weather Machine?"  
"We're on our way!" Jason confirmed. "Just a few more minutes, and..."

The sound of some explosions on the other side of the lift door interrupted the conversation.

"...Uh... What... What was that?" Jason asked.  
"...It was all going so well..." Douglas replied, before carefully opening up the lift doors a little to peer through.

* * *

Sly burst through the doors and looked around. Spying a pole, he leapt onto it and quickly climbed his way down to the floor.

"You can't run forever!" Carmelita called out, running into the room and pointing her gun around, looking for the raccoon.

Sly put his back against the wall, and looked up at the steel walkway above. He could hear the sound of the vixen's boots as she moved across it. Looking around him, he discovered he'd run into some sort of storage area.

"Where is he?" He heard the voice of Neyla ask.  
"Somewhere in here. He won't get far." The Inspector replied.

* * *

"We got a problem people." Douglas said, stepping back from the door. "Inspector Fox, Sly Cooper and the plague known as Neyla."  
"You hear that?" Jason said, asking the others at his end of the radio. "So much for Palace keeping things under control!"  
"Hey! What am I supposed to do?" The fox demanded.  
"We're still a little far from your position..." 

"I'd better get a BIG bonus for this!" Douglas said, carefully opening the door and closing it again, before ducking down behind a stack of crates.

* * *

"Come out Cooper! If you turn yourself in, we can easily find a cell for you here." Carmelita announced.  
"What, with all those Clockwerk parts on the loose?" Sly shouted up. "I think you're missing the bigger picture here!"  
"Don't try and fool me Cooper! Smicktor, The Fiendish five, The KLAWW Gang, you're all the same; and you'll all face justice."

'It's no use trying to talk with her.' Sly thought. 'She just sees it all as black and white.'  
It was then that something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Did something just move over there by that ladder?

"You're trapped Cooper!" Carmelita reminded. "There's no escape!"  
"Right, I'll just leave you two to settle this..." Neyla said, walking away from the vixen.  
"I thought you were going after Murray."  
"The hippo? I don't think he'll be going very far..."

Sly's ears twitched. Now he was sure something else was going on in the room. Someone was climbing up the ladder on the opposite side of the room to where he was.

"Don't under-estimate the Cooper Gang, they're all highly dangerous." Carmelita stated, pointing her gun over the walkway and looking for the raccoon.  
"What, a delusional hippo that thinks he's a superhero and a geek turtle?" The tigress shook her head again, turning around to look at the vixen. "You have to be kidding me."

"Hey!" Sly took offence to the Constable's comments, jumping on the top of a table in the middle of the room. "That's me friends you're talking about."  
"Oh, how sweet." Neyla taunted. "The great master thief cares about his little Band of Thieves."

As the two Interpol policewomen looked down at Sly, Douglas had sneaked his way up to the walkway. He smiled, pulling out his shotgun.

At that moment, a flash of lightning quickly followed by a thunderclap caught everyone's attention. They all looked towards the windows of the room, and saw the heavy rain that was hammering into the glass.

"A thunder storm?" Sly questioned.  
"In the middle of an American desert?" Carmelita questioned.  
"That's strange..." Neyla began to say, before the feeling of a gun on the back of her head stopped her.  
"Fiendishly strange." Douglas stated.

Carmelita whipped around and held her gun up, only to find that Douglas now had his Nightstick over her neck under her jaw, and was pointing his gun at her.

"Drop the weapon Fox, or I'll break her neck!" The purple fox threatened.  
The vixen stiffened for a moment, considering her options.  
"H...Help me!" Neyla gasped, the force of the weapon restraining her breathing.

Reluctantly, Carmelita slowly put her gun on the ground, before backing away from it.

"All right, now nobody try any heroics!" Douglas warned. "Or I swear everybody dies!"  
"Smicktor!" Sly shouted up. "How... Why... What?"  
"Let's just said The Fiendish Five had one last payoff for me!" The purple fox announced, pushing Neyla over to where Carmelita was, and picked up her Shock Pistol. "And I took it!"

"Are you insane?" Carmelita demanded. "You broke into a prison for money?"  
"Not exactly a desk job, I'll agree." The purple fox said, putting away his nightstick and twirling the Shock Pistol in his hand. "But it beats starving."  
"You're willing to put that monster Clockwerk back together for cash!"  
"Hey, it's ALOT of cash I'll have you know! Besides, after this I'll be done with The Fiendish Five and you'll never have to worry about me again!"

Hoping to make something off the distraction, Sly had climbed up the ladder. Poking his head over the top, he saw the back of Douglas and an opportunity.

"It's just a shame that you won't be around to see it Constable." Douglas smiled with a sinister hint, raising up the Shock Pistol and pointing it at Neyla.

Before the fox could fire it, Sly knocked the pistol out of his hand, sending it sliding along the metal walkway before resting at Carmelita's feet.  
"Don't mind if I cut in do you?" Sly asked with a smile, before having to quickly duck as Douglas swung his shotgun at him.  
Sly struck out with his cane, which the fox sidestepped as he pulled out his nightstick.

"FREEZE!" Carmelita roared, picking up her gun and pointing it at the two.

Douglas raised his gun to fire, but was caught off guard by Sly trying to pull the gun out of his hands.  
The purple foxresponded quickly by kicking the raccoon in the gut, causing him to kneel over.  
"You can score points with your girlfriend on your time!" The fox sneered, pointing his gun down at Sly.

This was an enough of a distraction for Carmelita, so aiming her gun at the back of Douglas, she fired.

Taking the full force of the blast, Douglas was sent hurtling forwards, colliding chest first into the guardrail of the walkway.

Which gave way.

A silence followed, in which time seemed to freeze for both an eternity and just a second.  
Then a sudden, abrupt sound followed, one that echoed through the whole prison centre.

Sly, now recovered from the kick, opened his eyes and rolled over, looking down over the edge of the walkway.

What he saw would be firmly embedded in not only his mind, but also Carmelita's and Neyla's.

Douglas Smicktor was lying limply in the remains of a stack of wooden crates, his shotgun and nightstick resting loosely in his hands.

He looked dead.

* * *


	18. The Getaway from Desert Storm

**Running Like Clockwerk**

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 17 - The Getaway from Desert Storm

* * *

"DOUGLAS!" Neyla screamed, disregarding all the Interpol protocol she'd hidden behind, as she stared down at the fox's body. She ran past the Inspector and Master Thief, quickly clambering down the nearest ladder.

As Sly looked down, a sickening feeling had embedded itself in his stomach. Although Douglas was helping to rebuild the plague of the Cooper family that was Clockwerk, and didn't seem to care about the consequences of this, Sly wouldn't wish this upon anyone.

A dull thud caused Sly to whip around to look behind him. Carmelita's shock pistol was now lying on the floor beside her feet, having slipped out of the vixen's hand. The look on her face said more than a volume of encyclopaedias. Years of doing things 'by the book' and following police training had led to this.

"...What have I done?" She almost inaudibly whispered.

Sly turned back to look down. Neyla was cradling the fox's head in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably. He gulped; fearing the worst, as he slowly took of his blue cap and held it over his chest.

Once again, a flash of lightning was quickly followed by a rumble of thunder. The storm was practically over the prison centre, and it was unsettling even the vilest of criminals being held.

The second combination from the storm did not help the overall mood of the area, and gave the impression that there were sinister forces at work.

What anyone thought of the third was irrelevant, as something far more important happened.

Douglas woke up.

Coughing hoarsely, he wildly tried pushing the tigress away. He didn't have a clue to what had just happened to him, but his instincts told him to get away. Quickly. Unfortunately, concussion tends to prevent such things.

"DON'T MOVE HIM!" The Inspector called out while she and Sly ran down to him.  
"Blah?" The far away look in the fox's eyes showed that lights were on, but nobody home. "Urgh..."  
"Give him some room!" Carmelita said, tossing some other fragments away from Douglas. "A fall like that, from that height especially, could easily have broken bones, or..."  
"Like that broken arm." Sly winced, pointing at the purple fox's left arm.

"...Fine..." Douglas said, waving the spinning room away from him with his right arm (for some strange reason, he found his left arm wasn't responding to any commands). "Had... Worse..."

Breathing heavily, the purple fox tried sitting up, but the pain running through his body was almost unbearable. Neyla had backed far away from him at this point, frightened but at the same time enraptured by the sight.

"I don't think the nearest medical facility is for a good few miles..." Carmelita stated, trying to figure out what best to do.  
"Not... Worth it..."  
"What?" Sly questioned.  
"Money...Not worth it... Not worth this..." Douglas carried on, rolling over to his side and coughing once more. "Wish... It could end... Had enough..." He panted, before coughing again. "Can't live with money... can't live without it..."

"SLY!" Bentley shouted through the radio. "This storm! I remember it!"  
"Not now Bentley, we've got a little problem..."  
"No! I'm serious!"

Douglas mumbled something as Carmelita kneeled down. She looked over the fox, checking for any more obvious injuries. Apart from the glazed-over, far-away look in his eyes, and the obvious broken arm, there didn't seem to be anything else that...

The Inspector then noticed something that normally even the sharpest of eyes wouldn't have picked up. Whilst glancing at the nightstick that Douglas held, the serial and issue number caught her attention.

'That's... That type hasn't been produced for years!' She thought. 'The only other one I've seen is the one Commissioner Barkley carries...'

"...Past..." Douglas spoke again.  
"What?" Sly asked.  
"...Our past... Is... Our future..." The purple fox continued. "It means... Something..."

Location: 'Desertion' Rehabilitation Centre, San Francisco, U.S.A.  
Time: 15:00

The explosion that ripped through the wall of the room was louder than possibly any other ever invented; and was as chaotic as the events that followed.

At the same time that Neyla ran out of the room, Raleigh and his gang, with the Clockwerk parts, raced out of the lift.

From the smoke of the gap, Muggshot and his gang gleefully fired off rounds and anything fixed onto the walls and roof, giving support as the parts moved from one side to the other.

Sly and Carmelita were hugging the ground, avoiding the blasts going over their heads.

The inspector tried to ignore the fact that Sly was using his body to protect her, but failed.

There was a worried scream, as Jason ran into the room, waving madly and motioning at Douglas.

Sly and Carmelita looked up, to see members of the Fiendish Five gangs carrying Smicktor off, almost like a martyr.

With a final blast from his gun, Muggshot took out the power box on the outside of the building.

With only the sound of the raging storm heard in the air, the centre was plunged into darkness.

* * *

Location: Commissioner Barkley's Office, Interpol HQ, Paris, France  
Time: 4 months after the end of The Sinister Sixth case

Commissioner Barkley rubbed the end of his white moustache, putting down the 'Sinister Sixth' case file on the 'Desert Storm Incident'.

"So that's what happened up until that point, yes, we've know that already..." Barkley stated. "But after that, the time between then and before the 'Cairo Incident', we don't know so much about."

He looked over to the purple fox, who was looking out the window. He glanced over his shoulder at the Commissioner, then back out the window.

"Truth is, nothing really. That is, it's mostly just trivial movement of people to places and so on."  
"We've got plenty of time Douglas, but you don't have to go into details." Barkley stated.  
"Thank you Sir. I could go on for hours, or fill up many chapters in some fan fiction, with all that stuff."

"Anyway..." Douglas began. "Using the black out as cover, The Fiendish Five escaped with the Clockwerk parts, returning to their main base. There, work quickly began to rebuild Clockwerk.

The Cooper gang escaped using the blackout as well. They probably went around their safe houses in America for a couple of weeks before disappearing out of sight to plan their next move. What the actually did will forever be a mystery.

Neyla was treated for the shock suffered from seeing myself in the 'condition' I was in, which was done in a few weeks.

Inspector Fox... Well, with all due respect to her, she is Inspector Fox. We can all guess what she spent her time doing.

As for myself? Well, I stuck around in the Fiendish base until I was given the clear by the doctors their. Yeah, they had their own medical staff in that place. Something about fire-slugs being hungry I think.

Anyway, once I was okay to leave, I got out of there as quickly as I could with my payment."

"Ah yes, the fabled 'Forever Card', right?" Barkley asked.  
"That's right Sir."Douglas answered, holding up agolden 'credit card' that had the symbol of Clockwerk on it."A direct tap into the almost infinite supply of funds amassed by Clockwerk over the centuries, which were used to fund Fiendish Five operations. Jackpot doesn't even come close."  
"And they just let you walk right out of their base with this card?"  
"Yes. Apparently, it had been 'pre-arranged' on the orders of Clockwerk himself a long time before he was first destroyed."  
"Disturbing...Carry on."

"Yes sir." Douglas continued. "I had a harder time shaking off Jason, who seemed insistent on following me since I was now 'one of them', but I managed.

For the next few months, I managed to put together a little hide-away in Canada, a safe-house if you will, mainly thanks to Thief-Net. I stayed there for the rest of the time. After all, I was now one of the most wanted people on the face of the planet. I didn't want to stick my neck too far out."

"So... Why did you decide to get involved again, given the fact that you didn't really have to do anything ever again?"  
"Well Sir, as fate would have it, I was dragged into the trap Carmelita had to catch Sly. The one that was actually truly designed by Veronica Palace to bring us all together."

"The Cairo Incident."

* * *

_Warning from Author: The rest of this fan-fiction contains spoilers for Sly 2: Band of Thieves. If you haven't already completed it already, you might want to do so._


	19. The Cairo Incident Part 1

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 18 - The Cairo Incident Part 1

* * *

"_Breaker Alpha Foxtrot this is the Wizard. Do you read me Sitting Duck?"_

The entire Cairo branch of Interpol waited with great anticipation outside of the museum. The legend of Sly Cooper, and the infamous Cooper family of Master Thieves, was enough to usually make any policeman more than nervous.

But Inspector Carmelita Fox and Constable Neyla had reassured them - on assignment from The Contessa, one of the most well respected and successful Prison Wardens in the world - that there was no possible chance of the Cooper Gang escaping.

All they had to do was wait and catch him.

"_This is 'Peking Duck', I hear you 'Blizzard'."_

Veronica Palace sighed, relaxing back in the chair of the main security room, watching the CCTV screens show various rooms and chambers of the museum. She was only focused on two at the moment.

One showed the main storage room. A big security box was in the centre of the room, which 'contained' the Clockwerk Brain that was going to shortly go on exhibition.

Of course, it wasn't there at all, as it was where (in her opinion anyway) it should be. In Clockwerk.

The other screen was of the main entrance hall of the museum. Sly Cooper had already broken in. The plan was going perfectly. Not Carmelita's plan of course, but The Fiendish Five's.

"_No Sly, I'm 'The Wizard', and you're 'Sitting Duck'!"_

Carmelita was a little nervous. Not just because of the fact she was inside of an Egyptian sarcophagus. She had no real idea if this plan was going to work. It was a big risk seeing if Cooper would show up to try and steal the Clockwerk Brain, one that could potentially backfire. Knowing her luck, it very well might.

The other risk about publicly stating that the brain was here was the factor of Douglas Smicktor. No one had seen, or heard of him since the 'Desert Storm'. There had been rumours of sightings in Russia weeks after the incident, and further reports of sightings in Canada weeks after that. Other reports claimed that he was dead. No one really knew for sure what the real story with Smicktor was.

There was also the fact that Commissioner Barkley had easily put together a large file about Smicktor. The file was interesting, as it had no information about Douglas himself. In fact, there was not a single scrap of evidence or anything even resembling evidence against Smicktor. Not even Neyla had anything about him, other than her reports about him, which revealed nothing.

The file instead gave details about his family. It's turns out the Smicktor family line is quite impressive, especially Douglas' parents. The file also details the tragedy surrounding his parents' deaths...

For some reason, Carmelita just couldn't get him out of her head. Of course, it was mainly due to the horrifying image of Douglas lying... Well, the image of Douglas at the end of the 'Desert Storm'.

At least, that's the reason she kept telling herself.

This now meant she had two of the most wanted criminals in the world on her mind. Which is the closest any man had ever gotten to her since... Ever.

"_I read you loud and clear 'Lizard'."_

Neyla couldn't stop thinking about Douglas for another reason. She wanted him. Badly. He was like some kind of super-fox, unable to be stopped by anyone or anything. Not even falls, broken bones, nothing could stop him.

She found it unbelievably attractive.

Of course, a problem with that was the unmistakeable fact that Douglas didn't exactly like her in any way, shape or form. He was quite unable to see past her being a policewoman and look at the tigress she was. The idea of a criminal and a law enforcer having a relationship seemed to him to be utterly impossible.

Douglas would need a lot of convincing.

"_No I'm... Forget it, you're not taking this seriously..."_

Jason was so nervous he could make other people nervous if they saw him. This plan had the potential of either being completely disastrous, or a complete success. Either way, it was a very tense time.

Especially since, in his opinion, there was no guarantee of Douglas showing up. His unpredictability was shown when he left the Fiendish Five base immediately after he'd received his payment. Not even waiting until his arm was fully healed.

Sometimes Jason wished he were as cool as Douglas was. The chicks dig guys like Douglas and Cooper. Hot police chicks especially it seemed.

"_Yeah, I'm not. Look Bentley, I know this is your first time out on the field, but you've got to loosen up. If we're going to get to that Clockwerk Brain, I need you on your toes. In plain talk - What's your status?"

* * *

_

Douglas wished his status were something other than 'currently crawling through an air-vent, about to enter what he hoped was the main storage room of the museum'. But it wasn't.

Armed with his nightstick and the energy 'Shock-Gun' as he now called it, he knew he was taking a HUGE risk doing this. He knew it was a trap, but the question was - for whom?

There was no Clockwerk Brain, he knew that for a fact since it had never been in the security box before the 'Desert Storm' as the police had called the event.

Pushing the grill of the vent out of the way, Douglas crawled out until he stood up.

He wasn't in the storage room. He was in the middle of a long corridor that had various paintings and displays along it.

'Good job idiot.' Douglas thought to himself. 'That's the last time I 'wing it' when breaking into someplace...'

The loud sound of glass shattering from the far end of the corridor interrupted his thoughts.

'Oh that can't be good.' He thought, running towards the source of the noise.

* * *

Poking his head around the doorway, Douglas was surprised to see Carmelita and Neyla facing off against Sly, with the security box between them.

"Freeze Criminal!" Carmelita announced.  
"Inspector Fox, as beautiful and unpredictable as ever."  
"Whereas you criminals are sooooo predictable. Anyone could have guessed you'd come after the Clockwerk Brain."  
"Setting a trap to catch me? People would start to think you just want to get me alone."

Neyla rolled her eyes. Douglas scratched the back of his head with his Shock-Gun. Bentley was frantically running around the museum side-corridors, shouting in his radio to abort the mission. The Murray pondered how easy it would be to navigate to the rendezvous point with x-ray vision.

Meanwhile an obsessed simian Doctor was trying unsuccessfully to force open the vault to a line of Master Thieves' loot on a far-off island; Muggshot considered putting together an aerial dog-fighting team to take on the mysterious and undefeated Black Baron; and someone at Sucker Punch had an idea of how cool it would be to have three dimensional game play in a game.

"You do realise that everything you say will be used against you in a court of law." Carmelita warned the raccoon, tightening her grip on her Shock Pistol.  
"That's assuming you can catch me." Sly coolly replied.

"Either that or you two start making out!" Douglas finally interrupted, jumping from the top of the steps onto the security box. "Seriously, you two get married or something before I puke my brains out!"  
"So he does live." Sly said, a mischievous grin appearing on his face.  
"I knew it!" Neyla happily exclaimed.  
"I can't exactly die without having ever lived." The purple fox coldly stated.  
"I should have guessed that you'd be here to finish off what you started!" Carmelita said, pointing her gun up at Douglas. "Well you're luck's just run..."

Douglas spun his body, easily kicking the gun out of her hand. Out of reflex, Neyla lashed out with her whip, but only struck the box as her intended target easily jumped over the shot and onto the floor.

As Carmelita retrieved her gun, box wobbled for a moment, before pathetically collapsing in on it's self.

"Was that meant to happen?" Sly questioned.  
"The brain!" Carmelita exclaimed.  
"There is no brain!" Douglas answered the questions on everyone's mind. "The brain was taken way before now! Before 'Desert Storm'!"

"What?"  
"That's how I got inside that place, in that empty box! Had any of you bothered to check it of course..."  
"You mean... The Fiendish Five... Has..." Neyla started to piece it all together.  
"ALL THE CLOCKWERK PARTS?" Sly shouted.

"If it makes you feel any better I'm not on their pay roll anymore." Douglas answered. "I don't work for anyone anymore. Only..."

A piercing, unearthly scream ripped through the air, shaking the foundations of buildings and sending shivers into even the smallest bones of everyone in Cairo.

Sly froze on the spot.

"...What... What was that?" Douglas questioned, pointing his Shock-Gun around the room.  
Carmelita was doing the same, and Neyla was ready with her whip.

Sly knew the sound only too well. A sound he had not heard for two years.

Clockwerk.

* * *


	20. The Cairo Incident Part 2

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 19 - The Cairo Incident Part 2

* * *

With the force of a full-scale earthquake, the whole museum complex began shaking violently. Overhead lamps and lighting fixtures swung from their supports, the contents of display cabinets toppled over onto themselves, and displays collapsed from the vibrations.

Carmelita shouted something across the room, but was drowned out by the chaos around her. Neyla was very frightened, not sure what to do. Douglas was just freaked out, his eyes darting around the room.

Sly still stood frozen on the spot.

A heavy shockwave unbalanced them for a moment, shortly before the roof above literally exploded into fragments above them, which came crashing down.

Carmelita managed to cartwheel out of the path of a falling piece, which crumbled on impact with the floor. Rather less gracefully, Neyla dived away from a support beam that would have struck her.

Sly was still in a daze, not fully registering what was going on around him. Douglas was, and without thinking, leapt over and tackled the raccoon to safety, preventing him from being crushed by the falling debris.

Dust filled the room, creating a brown mist of sawdust. Waving his hand in front of his face, Douglas looked up to try and tell what was going on.

Gradually, the dust began to clear, and the purple fox caught sight of a silhouette that he would not forget for some time to come.

"Sly Cooper..." The fiendish metallic voice called out. "Perhaps I was mistaken when I said you were the weakest Cooper I'd encountered."

"CLOCKWERK!" Sly shouted up, leaping up to his feet, readying his cane for battle.

The haunting glows of Clockwerk's eyes were like searchlights as they focused down on the raccoon. The talons of the owl/machine gripped onto the edge of the building where the lowest part of the roof had connected to the wall. It leaned over, casting a menacing shadow over the room.

Neyla cowered behind Carmelita, who was pointing her Shock Pistol up at Clockwerk, but was visibly shaking with fear. The cold look on Sly's face said everything about how he was feeling at that moment. Douglas just stood, looking up in a mix of horror and amazement at what he had helped to rebuild.

"I understand it has been two years since your 'victory'." Clockwerk continued, speaking as if his destruction before had been the fluke of the millennium. "Allow me to correct this error."

Without warning, Clockwerk spread out its wings and released a barrage of energy orbs at the Master Thief. Sly barely managed to dive out of the way of the attack. The orbs then ripped through the floor, splintering it and causing the whole room to shake violently.

Sly found himself positioned in from of the two Interpol policewomen, looking up at Clockwerk.

"There will be no mistakes Cooper..." Clockwerk stated, turning his head to look down at the three. "Not only will I dispose of you, but all those who dared to stand against me. That includes your pathetic 'Band of Thieves' that you call your gang, the upstarts known as the KLAWW Gang, and Inspector Fox."

"KLAWW Gang?" Douglas questioned  
"Leave Carmelita out of this!" Sly shouted back. "This is between you and me!"

"That is where you are wrong Cooper..."Beginning to flap its wings, Clockwerk slowly took to the air. "Now, it is more than my quest to destroy the Cooper legacy..." The cannons on its wings began to charge up with energy. "Much more..."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Sly shouted out, jumping up and heading out the doors at the top of the stairs. Douglas didn't need telling twice, quickly running up the steps after him, followed by Carmelita and Neyla.

Clockwerk mockingly laughed, watching them run.

"Run while you can... Sly Cooper..." It said, before unleashing the attack on the museum.

* * *

Douglas pushed open the doors, running into the long display corridor.

"Clockwerk's going to destroy this place!" Sly stated, seeing the purple fox enter, followed shortly by Carmelita and Neyla.  
"What do we do?" Neyla asked, very scared.  
"RUNAWAY!" Douglas answered, who hadn't stopped running for a moment and was quite a distance up the corridor.

"Smart plan!" Inspector Fox stated, running past Cooper after him.  
"Me chasing after Carmelita? Normally I'd be over the moon..." A suit of armour came crashing down from the shockwaves of Clockwerk's attacks.

Neyla was already sprinting away after the others.

Sly shrugged, running also.

* * *

Bentley ran out through the door, and narrowly avoided being knocked over by Douglas as he ran past. The turtle ran back through the door when Carmelita ran past. Poking his head out, he ducked back in when Neyla rushed past.

"Sly!" Bentley said, coming out when the raccoon approached. "This wasn't part of the plan! The structural integrity of the foundations has been ruptured, and it's unknown for how long they'll remain upright!"

"Meaning?" Sly asked as the turtle ran beside him.  
"We'll be crushed to tiny pieces if we don't get out of here!"

* * *

Murray easily pushed the doors open, charging out into the corridor, and sending Douglas flying backwards when he collided with him.

Douglas, in turn, collided with Carmelita, and they both fell to the floor.

A blush came across the Interpol vixen's face as she looked up shocked at the equally blushing purple fox on top of her.

A shocked squeal from the Interpol tigress quickly caused them to stand up.

"Shake a leg Murray!" Sly said, running up with Bentley. "You and Bentley get to the van, I'll meet you at the rendezvous!"

The hippo and turtle dashed through a different side-door as Sly continued down the corridor, while Carmelita and Neyla leapt up to the upper level of the corridor. Douglas decided to chase after Sly, not really having any idea of how to get out of this dangerous situation.

* * *

With a powerful swipe of his cane, Sly smashed through the glass window and leapt onto the balcony on the outside. Douglas followed him out, and at the same time a blast from her Shock Pistol allowed Carmelita and Neyla access to a balcony just across.

Another piercing screech filled the air as Clockwerk flew over-head, rounding high over the buildings before unleashing another barrage of orbs onto the museum. Below, a number of police cars were frantically rushing around the streets confused by the attacking metal owl.

Sly jumped, and twisted in mid-air before landing on a rope stretched across onto another building and quickly running across it. At the same time, Carmelita leapt across and landed on a tall monument before jumping again to a building across, followed shortly be Neyla. Below, the Cooper van roared into life, racing down the main street below as some police cars chased after it.

"...I can't do that!" Douglas exclaimed, watching Sly run across the ropes, before the museum shook violently again.

Quickly, he jumped back into the building, and through the doors that moments before Murray and Bentley had gone through. Following the flight of stairs downwards, while trying to keep his balance as the building continued to shake, he found himself at the start of a short storage corridor.

Catching sight of the open door at the end, he started to run. It was long before Douglas had to dive to the side of the corridor as a large display cabinet fell over to the ground, nearly crushing him. Similarly, he had to jump over a suit of armour as it to fell to the ground.

Nearing the end, Douglas leapt with all his might, diving though the open door, barely escaping as, just a second later, the ceiling of the corridor collapsed. Rolling across the empty street, Douglas picked himself up, only to be met with a huge cloud of dust that made him shield his eyes, and the loud noise of destruction.

* * *

As the dust cleared, Douglas found himself looking at the crumbled remains of what was the Cairo museum. Now, it was only the twisted metal and stone rubble that had been the walls and materials of the building itself.

Douglas panted as he fell down to one knee, sucking as much air in and out of his body as he could physically manage. To say that had been a roller coaster of emotions was an understatement. Looking up, he saw that Clockwerk was flying directly overhead of the ruins. With unbelievable ease, the machine owl landed on the rubble, its talons easily piercing through the bricks.

"...Douglas Smicktor..." Clockwerk spoke. "I cannot express my gratitude in your assistance in my reconstruction... And I understand the conflict in your mind..."  
"Con... Conflict?" Douglas asked.

"Can I, a murderer, criminal mastermind and immortal perfection, be trusted? Do not think that Veronica Palace, Jason, or any of my associates in the Fiendish Five did not think the same as you when I first met them."

Douglas simply nodded in reply.

"But at the same time, do not believe for one moment that I had picked them without doing... 'Homework'... On them before hand. I knew their background, family, personality... I knew some better than they knew themselves... The same goes for you... Douglas..."

Clockwerk's eyes flashed wickedly as he continued to talk.

"I hand picked you not because you are the best... But because you will become the best... Better than all the Cooper family combined... A master thief unlike any other in history..."

Douglas stood up, very confused and shocked by what he as hearing.

"I have come to realise in my foolishness... Why I have been unable to erase the Cooper legacy... As perfect as I am, my size, strength, intelligence and ability is vastly different from Sly... But you... Douglas... Are the same height, strength, weight... If you were a raccoon, you would look like Sly Cooper as well... You are equal, yet opposite to him in many ways..."

"That is why I am making... An 'offer'... To you Douglas... Join me, and together, I promise we shall reign as the supreme criminal superpower of the world... Known as... The Sinister Six..."

"Sinister Six?" Douglas exclaimed.

"You will be my right-hand man... And in return, I will give you the power to no longer live in hiding, in fear of anything and anyone... We shall be above all other life... The Alpha and the Omega..."

Clockwerk took to the air, high above.

"Consider my offer... Douglas Smicktor... Then show your answer in a week's time... Go to 'Le Theatre Form-Dable' in Paris, France... There you will Dimirti... Head of Operations of the KLAWW Gang... You will no doubt encounter some of my fellow Fiendish Five companions there to aid you..."

With that, Clockwerk took off into the night sky, leaving Douglas behind to take in everything he'd just been told. The fox just stared blankly as the owl/machine flew away, before the distant sound of police sirens snapped him back to reality, and he began a long trek through the back alleys of Cairo.

* * *

"Getting back to my safe house in Canada, I finally had some time to fully digest what exactly had happened back in Cairo. Clockwerk, THE Clockwerk, that I had put back together, was inviting me to join the Fiendish Five to make it 'The Sinister Six'?

There was something deeply disturbing and wrong about that picture... Besides the fact that someone as corrupt and downright evil as Clockwerk was making me an offer.

But it seems my trip to Cairo did give me some answers after all. I guess Clockwerk picked me as someone who can go toe-to-toe with Sly Cooper, in skills and in a fight. Well, I don't think Muggshot would be able to sneak in through an air vent then lower a safe from a hotel window to a car park below.

But despite these answers, I was still sure that there was a lot more than meets the eye here. Although I may be making the biggest mistake of my life, I was going to be at that nightclub in France. And it wasn't going to be doing anyone's dirty work.

I'll get some real answers, even if I have to beat them out of the Fiendish Five..."

* * *

Starring:

Sly Cooper

Bentley

Murray

The Fiendish Five

The KLAWW Gang

Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox

Constable Neyla

Commissioner Barkley

Veronica Palace

Jason

And introducing Douglas Smicktor as 'The Sinister Sixth'

In...

**Sly 2: Running Like Clockwerk **


	21. The Black Chateau

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 20 - The Black Chateau

* * *

Location: Paris, France, Western Europe.  
Time: 23:30

In Douglas' defence, all he'd been told was that something was happening tonight and it involved Dimirti and The Fiendish Five. He wasn't told what time it would be happening.

It seemed that Douglas had missed out on whatever action had happened.

Looking around the corner of the building, Douglas saw a number of police officers around the entrance to the nightclub, and the fallen peacock sign that had smashed through the fountain. There was police tape blocking off the streets leading into the main square, and officers were trying to tell people to return to their homes.

'What happened here?' Douglas thought to himself, puzzled by the peacock sign. 'Did the Fiendish Five do all of this damage?'

Moving away from the corner, Douglas scurried down the road, and quickly ducked down behind a red car.

"So this is what they call 'The Black Château' huh?" Douglas thought out loud, but in a whisper, as he peered over the top of the he was crouching behind.

Before him, there was a huge gate-door that, although made of wood, looked extremely sturdy. Looking though the gaps in the iron bars of the 'wall' leading off the door, he could make out what seemed to be a very fancy looking fountain.  
In front of the door, there were many brief cases lying around and a strange looking truck with a huge grappling hook on it.

Douglas then noticed someone in the garden.  
'Well well... Veronica Palace... She'll know something!'

Quickly, Douglas ran through the brief cases and jumped onto the roof of the car parked next to the iron-bar fence. With another jump, he was over the fence, and quickly rolled upon touching the ground to behind a large speaker box.

Looking across, he saw Veronica pacing back and forth in front of the back door of the building, looking quite annoyed. Her mouth was also moving, indicating she was mumbling to herself.

He was still too far away from her to able to hear what she was saying, Moving forward, he moved across a little bridge and jumped on top of the speaker box next to the fountain/circular stage. He jumped again, and pulled himself up to the top, next to a stone gargoyle that was producing a stream of water.  
'Dimitri must be loaded!' He thought.

Veronica walked down the steps and kept moving until she stopped right in the middle of the circular area.  
Her 'phone went off, which she answered.

"Veronica Palace here."  
"It's Jason here!" The voice on the other end answered.  
"Good. Something's come up; the plan needs to be aborted immediately."  
"What happened?"

"It seems Sly Cooper has an interest in the KLAWW Gang as well. Inspector Fox and Constable Neyla carried out a police raid, and found Dimitri knocked out in a barrel, next to a counterfeiting machine."  
"Explains why he was spending more than his club was making."  
"Seems like it. At least it saves us the problem of taking the lounge lizard out ourselves."

"What about these 'fake Clockwerk' parts Raleigh wanted to look at?"  
"No sign of them. Either the KLAWW Gang was lying, or for some reason Cooper took them."

"All right. I'll call Muggshot and tell him the plan's off. But, uh..."  
"What?"  
"Can you... Stick around? I mean... In case, you know... Douglas shows up or somethin'..."

Veronica sighed. "Yes, I'll stay for a bit longer. I don't know what makes Clockwerk so sure he'll be here though. I still say him being at Cairo was a fluke. But if he doesn't show up..."  
"He will!"  
"Shut up!" She snapped. "IF he doesn't, there's no way of telling him about the next stage of our operation."

"Rajan. The 'self-made' royalty of the Spice industry." Jason confirmed. "Taking him down will be quite a feat, especially with his palace and spice production facility being located at almost opposite ends of India."  
"Dimitri was the easiest target to start with. The rest of the KLAWW Gang are far more difficult to get to, especially Arpeggio." Veronica stated. "Our best chance to get rid of Rajan is at the unveiling of his 'latest acquisition' in a few weeks time. We can divide our forces to take down both of his operation bases, but the spice plant should be the main target. He can't have anything worth while in some old palace."

"Are you sure that it will work? I mean, seeing as how there's gonna be a lot of Interpol invited, and..."  
"No one on the 'good' side of the law has a clue to who Rajan actually is. He pays of the Indian authorities regularly, and generous donations to Interpol keep them sweet. From what I've heard, Rajan's PR team give out free VIP invites to people just to bump up the numbers at his parties. It's hard to tell if he's trying to convince himself or the rest of the world that he's a true royal."  
"All right. I'll check back with you later. Keep a look out for Douglas though; he just HAS to show up sooner or later."

Veronica hung up the 'phone, and started to walk back to the building, mumbling something about Jason being obsessed.

As soon as she'd gone inside, Douglas jumped down from where he had been eavesdropping. He quickly glanced around, before noticing a small wooden boat that he could use to jump around the side of the building and back into town.

* * *

Location: Paris, France.  
Time: 23:40

Walking down the streets of Paris, Douglas took the time he had to reflect on what he'd heard.

To him, the night was a failure. None of the questions he had on his mind had been answered, and he'd only found out that the Fiendish Five were planning to take out another KLAWW Gang member.

'This is some wild goose chase I'm stuck on.' He thought to himself, kicking an empty tin can down the street. 'And my only lead is some shindig that's gonna be full of cops and gate crashed by the Fiendish Five. Not my kind of party at all...'

He kicked the can again, watching it roll down the street.

The next thing he knew, a blast of bullets suddenly appeared and obliterated the can from existence.  
Out of instinct, Douglas whipped out his Shock-Gun, clicking it into action.

"I guess that slimy rat was right after all..." Came the rough voice, as a hulking figure started to come out of a side alley, accompanied by dogs clad in suits, each carrying Tommy-guns. "You are here to help out huh?"

"Muggshot." Douglas said, easily recognising the muscle of the Fiendish Five. "I guess you haven't heard the news?"  
"News? What'cha talking about?"  
"Dimirti's already has been done and dusted by the Cooper Gang. We've missed all the fun."

"WHAT?" That no-good raccoon and his misfits are meddlin' in my plans again?"  
"Your plan?"  
"Yeah! I'm da real... Uh... That word, for the thing..." Muggshot tapped the side of his head with one the huge guns he was wielding. "What does all the thinkin' in the head..."

"You mean the brain?"  
"Yeah, that thing! I'm da best brain-guy in The Fiendish Five! I can do all sorts a' clever mind stuff, like those jigsaw things and everything!"

Douglas tilted his head slightly, a bemused look on his face.

"I gots it all!" Muggshot continued. "I gots da best looks, da best brains, da best muscles, da bestest guns, and not to mention I got the best brains!"  
"Okay..." Douglas said. "Right... So, Mr. Einstein, if you are so smart as you say you are, then maybe you can answer some questions that I have."  
"Questions? Einstein? What the heck are you talkin' about?"  
The fox sighed, shaking his head. "Forget it, I'm not gonna get anything useful out of you."

"Hey! You watch your mouth; or else I might have to rearrange it from your face!"  
"Ooooooh!" Douglas mocked, shaking his hands as if he was afraid. "Big threat tough guy. Were you up all last night thinking up that, or did your momma teach you that one?"

"NOBODY TALKS BAD ABOUT MY MOMMA!" Muggshot roared. "NO ONE! All right boys, lets teach this punk some lessons in respect!"

* * *


	22. Be More Perfect

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 21 - Be More Perfect

* * *

Douglas leapt down on the ground, narrowly avoiding the barrage of bullets from the guns of Muggshot's goons that flew over his head. In the next second, the purple fox fired a blast from his energy shotgun, taking out one of the attackers as he rolled under a parked car.

"Lucky shot..." Muggshot sneered, watching the goon that got hit strangely disappear in a cloud of smoke. "What 'cha mugs waitin' for? Get him!"

The gang of Muggshot's dogs started to move towards the car, but had to scatter when Douglas suddenly popped up from the other side and blasted one of them.

"Ya got a pretty good aim for a runt!" Muggshot roared, watching with interest. "But ya got two more to go!"  
'I'm surprised he can count to two.' Douglas thought, listening carefully as he crouched with his back against the vehicle.

The fox's ears twitched. The two thugs left were approaching the car from both ends, one from the front end, the other from the rear. Just as he wanted them too.

He pulled out the nightstick, spinning it in his hand for a second, before he moved over a little to the rear end. Looking down at the ground to the side, he could see the shadow of one of the gang members. Just a few more seconds, then it would be time to strike...

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS CRIMINALS!" The unmistakeable voice of Carmelita roared, jumping down from a rooftop and landing perfectly on the ground. Her Shock-Pistol was drawn, and was pointing straight at Muggshot.  
"It's that broad from Mesa City!" Muggshot said. "You got some payback comin' to ya!"

Douglas wasted no time in taking advantage of the distraction, jumping up and knocking out the gang member closest to him. Carmelita, in a reflex action, fired at Douglas, but only succeeded in hitting the last goon.  
"That's it!" Muggshot drew his guns. "You punks are both gonna pay!"

The Fiendish Five muscleman fired his weapons at the car the purple fox was near. Douglas didn't have enough time to react, and was sent flying backward from the force of the car exploding.

Carmelita let loose with her pistol, launching blast after blast into Muggshot. He took the blows and acted as if they didn't hurt at all. It would take much more than that to beat him.

"Ya tryin' to tickle me to death?" He roared punching a large dent into a car as he walked towards her. "We'll see who's laughing now!"  
"You are under arrest!" Carmelita warned. "Stay right where you are!"  
"Have some of this!" Muggshot snarled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a large bundle of...

"Dynamite?" The Inspector exclaimed.  
"Yeah, Panda King hooked me up with some neat stuff!" He held it high above his head. "This stuff blows stuff up into little... Stuffs! Yeah!"

The vixen lowered her gun a little, confused. "What are you talking about?"  
"When I light this little string on this thing, I just chuck it over to somethin' and then..."

Carmelita gasped in shock as Muggshot suddenly disappeared in an explosion, followed by a cloud of smoke.

Moments later the smoke disappeared and Muggshot stood blackened, blinking in confusion.  
"...Blam..." He finished his sentence, before falling face-first to the ground.

Douglas stood behind where Muggshot had been, still keeping his gun raised, but now pointing it at the Interpol Inspector.

"That actually worked..." He said in disbelief, shaking his head. "Too bad I didn't learn anything out of him."  
"Smicktor." Carmelita raised her gun up again, pointing it at the purple fox. "You've kept yourself under the radar for quite a while. I thought you were working for Muggshot and the Fiendish..."  
"Was working." He cut her off. "Now I want some answers from them. And I'll get them, even if I have to go through them all to get them."  
"Answers?" She questioned. "What answers?"

The sound of police sirens caught her attention for a moment, making her look back. The sound of the explosion must have caused a lot of interest.

Turning back around, she saw Douglas was already ducking down into a side alleyway. She stood and watched as the fox disappeared into it, out of sight.

...She stood and watched?

Carmelita blinked in shock. She just hesitated to shoot him. She rarely hesitated to open fire on a criminal. Except for those rare occasions with Cooper.  
She looked down at the unconscious Muggshot, then back to where Smicktor had disappeared.

'I have a bad feeling about this...' She thought. 'Someone's going to get hurt.'

* * *

"With the sounds of police cars filling the air, I slipped my way out of Paris through the back alleys and side streets, 'till I caught my midnight flight back to Canada.

Thinking over the night's events, I couldn't help but feel what a total waste of time it had all been. All I ended up doing was knocking out Muggshot...

It then hit me, which caused me to spill my drink over the trousers of my disguise I was wearing. I'd just taken out the legendary Muggshot of the Fiendish Five! THE Muggshot!

The only other person who's been able to do that was...

Sly Cooper

Oh man, I was into this way too deep to be safe now.

I had plenty of time to think over the little bit of info I'd picked up from Paris. Veronica and Jason both talked about some Rajan guy. They said something about spices, and an unveiling in a few weeks time. Right now that was my only lead.

The next morning, the newspapers and ThiefNet were buzzing about how I'd taken out Muggshot. An amateur photographer had filmed the fight between me, Carmelita and Muggshot, and it was huge news how I'd 'turned' on the Fiendish Five.

One of Interpol's top guys, Commissioner Barkley, had even openly asked for me to come forward to meet with him on neutral terms. Yeah right, like that was going to happen.

Back in the hideout, I was able to track down some info quite easily about Rajan. I was even able to get his P.R. team to send out a press kit full of stuff about him.

He's some kind of Indian royalty, who has a big stock in the world Spice industry. Conflicting info compared to what I'd heard being said about him being 'self-made' and try to 'convince himself'.

One thing was certain though, his P.R. team had given me a VIP invite to this unveiling that was going to happen.

And I know for a fact that the Fiendish Five... Well, Fiendish Four I guess now... Are going to plan an attack on him. That may be the perfect chance to confront them and get the answers I want from them.

In a few weeks, I'd be in India. This was going to be one party to remember, that's for sure."

* * *

For a few days after the Black Chateau incident, no one wanted to talk with Clockwerk. They were afraid that he would be furious about Douglas' apparent betrayal, and that he'd want to take his anger out on anyone who came near to them.

But to everyone's surprise, Clockwerk seemed to be unfazed by it. In fact, he was now surer that his plans should go ahead unchanged, as if he'd expected this all to happen.

Jason had even heard Clockwerk remarking that Douglas 'Was becoming more like Cooper with each moment', and that 'Things couldn't be more perfect'.

* * *


	23. An Unexpected Encounter

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 22 - An Unexpected Encounter

* * *

"Thank you, everything seems to be in perfect order..." The guard handed back the VIP Pass to the purple fox in an expensive tuxedo. "Please step this way, Mister...?"

"Miller." Douglas said coolly, as if it was his real name. "Kevin Miller."  
"Ah yes, please, just this way."

Douglas followed the guard along a short walk down a lavish hall, decorated with expensive statues, fine oil paintings, and ornamental swords and weapons.

'This Rajan guy sure wastes a lot of money on this fancy stuff.' He thought, slightly disgusted at the fact that all the statues and paintings were of Rajan himself. 'I ain't gonna cry if he gets nailed by the Fiendish.'

"Here we are Sir." The guard said, motioning to the curtain being opened by two other guards. "Lord Rajan hopes you have a most enjoyable evening."

Stepping through the curtain, Douglas found himself on an upper level of a huge ballroom, complete with a huge throne on a stage that had large golden wings on it. There were a surprisingly large number of people in the room, many on the upper balconies and levels, leaving the floor of the ballroom for those wanting to dance.

"This is absurd..." Douglas said, shaking his head as he walked up to the barrier and looked down at the throne.

The purple fox saw a large tiger dressed in royal-looking robes sitting in the chair, looking around as if everyone in the room was his subjects.  
"That must be Rajan I guess..." He mused.

"Wow, I guess they'll let anyone in tonight." A voice made Douglas spin around, to come face to face with a grinning Sly Cooper, who was also dressed in a tuxedo.

"Nice disguise." Sly said, still smiling. "Didn't think you'd be the kind of guy for parties like this."

Douglas folded his arms across his chest, not letting his guard down. "I'm not." He answered. "But I got word that there might be some gatecrashers in the form of the Fiendish Five..."  
"Fiendish Four you mean." Sly pointed out. "Thanks for taking out that meathead Muggshot by the way."  
"What can I say?" Douglas shrugged a little. "The guy had it coming."  
"So why the change?" Sly asked. "One day you're breaking them out of jail, and the next you're sending to jail. Change of heart?"

"Change of mission." Was the fox's answer. "I've got quite a few questions that the Fiendish Five..."  
"Four."  
"...Whatever, that they could answer for me."  
"So is beating the stuffing out of each one of them part of your plan, or just a new hobby?" Cooper seemed amused by the change in Douglas that he saw.

"Well, Muggshot wasn't exactly the best candidate to pick to try and get info out of..."  
"Ah, I see. But he isn't the kind of guy you want to get in a fight with either."  
"Or give dynamite to." Douglas added.

Douglas was quite confused right now. It was understandable that he and Sly weren't slugging it out, as their cover would be blown. But Sly seemed completely at ease talking to the fox who had played a huge part in rebuilding Clockwerk.

It was as if taking down a member of the Fiendish Five was more than enough for forgiveness for his sins in Sly's eyes.

"So... What brings you to this?" Douglas asked.  
"See those wings down there?" Sly pointed down to Rajan's throne.  
"Yeah."  
"Those are the fake Clockwerk wings."

"Seriously?"  
"Yep, he's just showing them off to make himself look good. But that's not all, do you what's on the top of his stick?"

Squinting his eyes slightly, Douglas could just make out a strange looking clump of gold hanging from the top of the long stick Rajan was holding as if it was some kind of royal sceptre.

"That's half of the fake Clockwerk heart." Sly said, noticing a certain Interpol Inspector below.  
"Half? What's half of a heart good for?"  
"That's what I asked Bentley. Sorry to cut and run..." He said, spying an Interpol Constable as well. "...But duty calls."  
"Huh?"  
"I have a dance floor to dominate." Sly said, before walking away and down a flight of steps towards the dance floor.

Douglas was perplexed for a moment. How could anyone be able to steal a huge set of gold wings from the middle of a huge party, without anyone noticing?

He shook the thoughts from his mind. He had his own problems to worry about. He sighed, moving away and walking along the balconies, past the seated areas and through the many groups of guests talking to one another.

'This isn't working.' He thought. 'No one around here is gonna know anything about..."

His eyes went wide in shock for a moment, before he quickly made his way behind a group of people.

He'd just caught sight of the infamous Contessa. Luckily she seemed to be distracted by some dancing going on below, but just seeing her was enough to worry him.

'What's she doing here?' Douglas thought, glancing around him. 'This ain't good... There's somethin' going on here, and I don't like it... Maybe I should get out of here...'

"Excuse me, Sir?" A voice behind him asked. Turning around. Douglas was relived to find it was only one of the waiters for the event. "Commissioner Barkley asked me to deliver this to you Sir."

The purple fox blinked, as he was handed a very thick looking folder of documents.  
"Uh, are you sure?" Douglas questioned.  
The waiter nodded. "He assured me this was fine, and asks me to tell you that he is relieved to know you are in good health."

Before the fox could question anything else, people began applauding the dance that had just finished. Smicktor wasted no time in quickly taking the folder and heading down a side corridor.

Half way down it, he ducked into a side room and locked the door behind him. It was an empty storage cupboard, and looked pretty dusty.

He glanced around him, noticing the moonlight shining through a high window.

He looked to the folder he was holding, and opened the cover, looking at the picture paper clipped to a personnel file  
'Hey, what's this?' he thought, sitting down and reading the file.

Undisturbed in the small room, Douglas started to read.

And read

And read.

Minutes passed, nearly hours passed. During the time, Douglas was oblivious to the fact that elephants had rampaged outside the ballroom, the wings of Rajan's wings had been stolen from under his nose as Carmelita and Sly danced, and that a double cross was taking place.

None of that mattered right now.

Because he now knew the truth.

* * *

"All alone, are we little turtle?" Jason smirked, pointing his gun at Bentley, while holding one half of the fake Clockwerk heart in the other.

"What are you doing here you, you, you fiend you!" Bentley demanded, shaking as he was backed against the rear of the Cooper Van.

"Oh, just a little demolition work at Rajan's spice factory!" The rat laughed. "While he's busy hosting a party, we moved in and destroyed his spice plant, taking this thing as well..." He held up the fake heart half. "We were going to wreck this place as well, but it seems that Constable Neyla are your friends are taking care of that for us!"

Having successfully taking the wings from the throne, Sly's cover was blown when Neyla decided to stun Cooper with some kind of smoke bomb.

Rushing to help his friend, Murray leapt into action, knocking Rajan out, but was arrested by the many Interpol and World Police Force officers present.

Even stranger, Neyla accused Carmelita of conspiring with Cooper, who she had just (unknowingly) danced with. She too was instantly arrested. No one noticed during this that Murray had swiped the other half of the fake Clockwerk heart that Rajan had, and was hiding it.

"Rajan's spice operations have been destroyed!" Jason laughed again. "Another blow to the KLAWW Gang, and now the Cooper Gang is finished as well! This is the greatest day in the history of the Fiendish Four! This is the greatest day for the almighty Clockwerk! This is...!"

Jason could not finish his sentence, as a hard blow from behind suddenly knocked him out, courteous of Douglas' nightstick.

Bentley blinked in surprise as the purple fox, now in his regular clothes, stepped over the rat as if he wasn't there, picked up the heart half, and tossed it to him.

"Wha... What?"  
"Let's get out of here." Douglas simply said, grabbing the turtle by the arm and getting into the van. "Can you drive?"  
"Not a stick shift I can, no way!" Bentley said.  
"I'll drive then." Douglas sat in the driver's seat, clipping himself in and starting the engine.

"What? Why... Why are you helping me?"

Douglas just stared ahead, a dark look overcoming his face.

"Why?" The fox said it with a lot of spite. "Because Clockwerk killed my parents."


	24. Escape from an Encounter

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 23 - Escape from an Encounter

* * *

"Though statistically improbable, I had to face the facts: Neyla had betrayed us, my team-mates were captured ,and I was all alone with a former enemy, whose parents had been murdered by Clockwerk!

Thought intellectually inferior, Sly and Murray had always been a rich source of sociological interest. The sudden change I had found in Douglas Smicktor was also interesting to say the least.

Watching my friends, and even Inspector Fox, being chained and carted off in a police van seemed to have a profound emotional effect on Smicktor. I watched as his expression seemed to show regret and remorse for what had happened to them, and deep loathing for Neyla's actions.

Driving out of the jungle, Douglas showed me the file he had 'picked up' from Rajan's palace. It was a vast file of information from Interpol, some of it of the highest security level! Only Commissioners would have access to all of this!

Douglas noted that he'd set out after the Fiendish Five to find answers about why he'd been chosen to rebuild Clockwerk, and boy did he ever get them!

Ironically, on the same night many years ago that Clockwerk and the Fiendish Five had attacked Sly's father and stolen the Thievius Raccoonus, that evil owl also attacked the home of the Smicktor family, burning it to the ground and killing both of his parents in the process.

Police had declared Douglas dead as well, being unable to find him in the ruins.

'I'd always have a strange kind of luck' Douglas said about it. 'Either that or fate.'

Whatever the reason, somehow Douglas, being only a small child, escaped the blaze, and into a life of crime thanks to the pity of a small-time crime lord.

It was truly a cruel twist of fate. Douglas had actually rebuilt the monster that had not only killed his parents, but in his words, 'forced him into this life of crime'.

The long drive out of the jungle gave me time to reflect, and with each passing tree my sense of isolation grew.

That was, until Douglas made a very unexpected, but very encouraging, statement..."

* * *

"I want to help you." Douglas said, still watching the road.

"What?" Bentley exclaimed.  
"I said I want to help you." The fox repeated, glancing at the turtle for a moment. "I owe it to you, Sly, and Bentley."

Bentley was confused. Sure, perhaps Douglas could be very helpful, considering the athletic abilities that he had compared to the intellectual ones of the turtle, but...

"Um, why?" Bentley asked.  
"I know that... That I helped rebuild Clockwerk..." The fox said with a sigh. "And that it's ruined your lives... So... The very least I can do is to help you guys out. Especially since they've just gotten busted by that... That..." There was anger in his voice now.  
"Neyla." Bentley said.  
"Yeah, her."

That was going to be tough, even more so that the Contessa had been there. If she was involved, then Sly and Murray could be sent to one of her 'Rehabilitation Centres'.

Bentley sighed, flipping over to another page in the file Douglas had given him.

"My goodness!" He exclaimed.  
"What?" Douglas asked, still watching the road.  
"According to this data file, BOTH of your parents were Interpol Commissioners!"

Douglas slammed onto the breaks, bring the van to an abrupt halt.  
"Say WHAT?" He said, grabbing the file and looking at it.

* * *

_Sinister Sixth Evidence No. 100-KB_

_Official Interpol Statement_

_It is with deep regret that we announce that last night, Mr. and Mrs. Smicktor, both Commissioners of Interpol and stationed here in Paris, perished in a fire that also destroyed their home._

_The Smicktors were widely respected inside and outside of Interpol for their constantly exceptional fieldwork, detailed paper work, and all around good nature. Their deaths have come both as a deep shock and a serious blow to the police community._

_It is believed from early indications that the arson attack on the Smicktor home was committed by 'Clockwerk', the leader of the mysterious 'Fiendish Five' group of criminals, who also on the same night committed a similar attack on another address in Paris. That is currently being investigated for any connections to this incident._

_Though deeply saddened by this news, we at Interpol hereby announce the promotion of Chief inspector Barkley to the position of Commissioner. Barkley, a hard worker with an excellent arrest record and an eye for future police talent, was also a close friend to the Smicktors. We at Interpol wish him the best of luck in his new position, and would like to advise members of the press to acknowledge his requested week of mourning he is taking before assuming his new role at the Paris HQ of Interpol._

_Regretfully at this time, there is no news of the condition, or whereabouts, of the child of the Smicktors. He is a purple fox named Douglas, with purple eyes. If he is found, please contact Interpol on the following number immediately...

* * *

_

"...That's ironic..." Douglas said in disbelief. "That's more than ironic..."

"Indeed." Bentley agreed, adjusting his glasses._ "_The fact that you are on the 'wrong' side of the law, when you would have more than likely have been brought up in a career enforcing the law is incredible to say the least."  
"Urgh..." Douglas slumped his head on the steering wheel. "I would be working alongside Carmelita... And Neyla..."  
"Hmmm... Faced with those options, I can't say that this situation would be so bad after all."

A smile crept across the fox's face as he lifted his head up to look at the turtle.  
"You know, you've got a good point there." He said. "But let's get out of the jungle, before we get sidetracked anymore."  
"Agreed." Bentley said with a nod. "There's a safe house in Bollywood where we can gather some information before planning our next move."

Douglas turned the key to start the van up again, but the engine made no sound. He turned it again. No sound.

He pushed on the pedals, shifting the gear stick as he turned the key repeatedly. No sound again.

"Hey, I think the engine's busted up or..."  
Douglas started to speak, but suddenly his vision became hazy as a sudden headache overcame him.  
"Uh... Wha?" He stuttered out, confused as to why everything suddenly had a dark purplish look to it.

Bentley couldn't respond, as the purple mist filling the van had forced him into a deep sleep.

Douglas soon followed, slumping onto the steering wheel.

Outside the van, chickens danced in a circle, clucking a voodoo chant.


	25. A Deadlier Dance

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 24 - A Deadlier Dance

* * *

"Welcome to the other side, Douglas Smicktor..."

Douglas' eyes snapped open upon hearing the voice ring through his ears.  
"What the?" He exclaimed, looking around him. "Where, huh?"

Very confused would be a light term for how he was feeling right now. One minute he was in a van with Bentley, the next...

He was standing on what looked to be a large tooth inside of the 'jaws' of a huge dragon made out of rock?

"Over here boy!" The voice called again. "Don't say you've forgotten about me already have you?"  
Douglas looked ahead, and saw the owner of the voice. Mz. Ruby

"My oh my..." Ruby grinned darkly. "You found out that Clockwerk killed yo momma and papa..."  
"Like you didn't know!" Douglas went to pull out his shotgun, only to find it had vanished.

"Oh, we all knew, except that knucklehead Muggshot. We can't trust him to remember what day it is, let alone keep a secret. But back to business!" She laughed, raising a hand to the sky. "The dark purple mist around us is one of the most powerful voodoo spells ever created... It allows us to access a void between the living and the dead, the past and the present, the truth and the lies..."

"What are you talking about?" Douglas demanded.  
"This is where it all ended for me... Despite all the Vicious Voodoo at my disposal, A Deadly Dance was to be my downfall... Here, Sly Cooper defeated me fair and square... And now it's time to see if you can do the same!"  
"What?"

"Remember in Paris? Your meeting with Muggshot was no accident. We set him up to fight you, and you did very well to outsmart and beat him."  
"So what? Now you guys are turning on your own team?" The fox said, slightly relieved to find his nightstick still in his possession.  
"Don't be so naive my friend... Unlike Muggshot, I know what's really going on here... If you'll listen to what I have to say, you'll learn more than any file could tell you!"

Douglas stayed silent, but did not let his guard down for a moment.

"Although Clockwerk is all machine now..." Ruby continued. "He was once flesh and bone, so his soul still exists, trapped inside a frame of steel and bolts. I can see into spirit of his heart, of his mind, of the body that once was. I can see what he sees, and I can hear what he hears.

I've known for a long time what the true purpose of the Fiendish Five was, but it was only after he was rebuilt that I found out our new purpose - and it involves you.

Don't you realise your meeting with Cooper have been no coincidence? Don't you see that you and Sly are quite similar?

He once broke into Inspector Fox's office, and you broke into a prison.

He rebuilt a legacy when he put the Thievius Raccoonus back together, and so did you in rebuilding Clockwerk.

I'm disappointed in myself for not seeing it sooner... You and Cooper... You've both got that same vibe... Most distastefully bad juju."

"Sorry for disappointing you then." Douglas spoke. "I'll make it up to you by sending you to the graveyard. Then you can play with all the zombies you like!" He pulled out his nightstick, ready to fight.

Ruby laughed. "Oh Douglas... I see your mouth moving, but all I hear is blah... blah... blah! Well, if jaws need to flap... THEN LET THEM FLAP!"

Suddenly, the jaws of the rock dragon began moving, it's fanged teeth coming down on sharpened teeth sticking out from the deadly voodoo swamp water below.

Douglas looked around him. The only route was seemingly to head forward, but how was he going to get across those large gaps? It's not like he can land on the points of those fangs can he?

"See you in the next world..." Ruby grinned again, gesturing for Douglas to come and fight. "...Douglas Smicktor..."

Douglas easily jumped from the flat tooth he was on to the next one. Now there was a problem. There was a sharp fang-like tooth sticking out of the swamp, with a similar tooth above periodically crashing down onto it.

'How am I gonna get past this?' He thought, looking ahead to the flat tooth on the other side of the fang.

It was then Douglas noticed something. When the above tooth wasn't smashing into the other, there were odd little 'stars' floating around the point of the lower tooth.

They were that odd, he'd seen them before on ladders, pipes, small tunnels and tight ledges, but he'd always written them off as just his eyes playing tricks on him. That or he needed some food, and quickly.

But somehow, just now, they seemed to mean something...

'Jump...' A faint voice seemed to speak through the voodoo mist.  
'What?' The fox thought. 'Did I hear that?'  
'Jump... Circle...'  
"...Ah forget it..." Douglas said, giving up on trying to understand what was going on, and just jumped towards the tooth, and thought 'circle'.

Rioichi Cooper's Ninja Spire Jump - developed when breaking into the heavily fortified temples of Japan, became a commonly used manoeuvre by the members of the Cooper clan. The ability to land on sharpened points, such as the tops of stalagmites, rocks, but also small areas like the tops of flagpoles became extremely helpful in heists.

Only a master thief could learn it and use it well.

Douglas therefore had no idea of the importance of the fact that he'd just done so, even as he leapt to the far flat tooth.

He looked back at the fang as the deadly tooth above came slamming down in complete shock. He couldn't believe that he'd just pulled that off!

'That same vibe...' Ruby thought to herself, watching as the purple fox, now full of confidence, began making his way across the path of teeth towards the platform she was on.

Barely moments after Douglas landed on the platform; Ruby slammed her tail down, causing a wave of mojo energy to spread out towards him. Jumping (and also flipping in mid-air without really thinking about it) over it, he landed near her and struck out with his nightstick.

But Ruby had vanished, leaving him only hitting thin air.  
"Sunva..." Douglas muttered, seeing that Ruby had appeared on a far-away platform at the other end of a stretch of swamp water.

"Don't look so annoyed..." Rub spoke as if everything going on was perfectly normal. "Just because I didn't bring your little 'boomstick' into this memory. You look so distant over there... How about I have my servant Chumley escort you over here?"  
"Oh, so now you're inviting me to come over there?" Douglas was rightfully cautious. "No dice. Why should I trust you and your crazy dream world? How do I know you're not just gonna have me dropped into this voodoo gunk?"

"Quite true! Quite true..." Ruby smiled. "But the only catch is just a little game I like to play with all my... Annoying guests! I want to see how well you pay attention... I'll unleash my mighty mojo magic upon you... If you repeat what I do, you'll dodge it just fine! If not, you'll get fried!"

Douglas looked down, and saw a turtle shell come out off the water.  
'Looks sturdy enough I guess...' He thought. 'All right, I'll play this little dark side game of Simon Says...'

The turtle started moving across the water, with Douglas carefully watching Mz. Ruby up ahead.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!" She chanted, clapping her hands to her right, unleashing what looked to be like three bursts of voodoo magic in the shape of floating pink squares.  
"Dig! Dig! Dig!" Douglas shouted back as he dodged each shape as it passed his left side.

"Voo! Voo! Voo!" Ruby chanted again, clapping her hands above her head and unleashing three green triangles.  
"Voo! Voo! Voo!" The fox ducked under the blasts coming at him.

"That! That! That!" Now she fired three red circles.  
"That! That! That!" Which were dodged on his right side.

"Dig! That! Dig!" A different combination of magic, but one that failed to hit. "Dig! That! Dig!"

"That! Dig! That!" "That! Dig! That!"  
"Dig! Voo! That!" "Dig! Voo! That!"  
"That! Voo! Dig!" "That! Voo! Dig!"

"Dig!" "Dig!"  
"That!" "That!"  
"Voo!" "Voo!"

"Doo!"

Douglas leapt over the final blast, that seemed to completely destroy the poor turtle servant, and landed safely on the platform. He wasted no time in leaping forward, and striking into Mz. Ruby. But once again, she seemed to disappear into thin air again.

"Not bad... Not bad at all... It's obvious what he sees in you Douglas..." Ruby's voice called out. "But let's try something else..."  
"What, another one of your games?" Douglas shouted out, looking around him.  
"You could say that..."

The purple mist floating around the area suddenly swelled up around Douglas, covering his whole body for a moment. Just a quickly as it had appeared, the mist then settled and floated away, leaving Douglas to take in the new surroundings he was in.

"Behold!" Ruby's voice called out again. "Deep inside the thickest, darkest swampland of my home was a place where I sent those unworthy of my time... A place where sin is an entry fee, and lives are devoured as if they meant nothing!"

Douglas seemed now to be in a thick swamp forest, full of trees sticking out of the unhealthy looking water, and branches lying on the surface. He turned around to see an almost cell-like structure made out of decaying wood.

"Welcome... To The Lair of the Beast!" Ruby called out, before laughing.

As she laughed, the water around the patch of ground he was on seemed to move hard and splash upward. There was something in the water, and it was big.  
'This ain't good...' The purple fox thought, taking a tentative step onto the branch connected to the ground he was on.

As soon as he did so, The Beast burst out of the water, destroying the tree cell.

Douglas only needed a second to look at The Beast before he ran along the thin branch on the water, using his nightstick to smash the candles that were blocking his way, fearing for his life.

He leapt across a gap onto the next branch, hearing the snap as the monster giving chase easily destroyed the previous branch. A short run and Douglas jumped again, using his nightstick to hang onto a hook-like branch above the water before swinging quickly to the next branch.

Douglas had no time to think, so did not give any thought to the fact that he was able to easily run across such thin spaces like he was doing, or the fact that his nightstick automatically extended to allow swinging on the hook just moment ago.

Probably because he'd never attempted, or needed to, run or move like he was currently doing.

Another jump, and Douglas was now running up a sloping branch above the water, quickly jumping to a high branch on a tree. Moments later he jumped again to a similar branch inches away, before landing on a slippery vine that allowed him to go around a tall trunk like he was on a helter-skelter.

At the bottom, he quickly continued on across a branch on the water as The Beast charged through the trees in front of it with frightening ease.

'Why are all these candles here?" Douglas was able to think as he smashed through them while running along the branch, before jumping off the end, swinging on a hook and landing on the next branch.  
'This doesn't even make any sense!' He added to himself, before repeating the swinging process and running up another sloping branch, smashing more candles as he went up.

'Oh man, it's catching up!' he thought, hearing The Beast draw closer, as he jumped to another branch, ran along it, then to a slightly bouncy branch off a tree.

Douglas barely had time to make the final leap across from the tree to the large stone hand platform, before The Beast snapped its way through it, before diving into the water.

Douglas breathed heavily, slumping down onto the stone, looking up at the full moon night sky through the purple voodoo mist.

He hadn't noticed before, but it was also raining right now. Yet the rain didn't seem to be having any effect on the mist, or himself. The rain wasn't making anything wet, even though it was quite a bit.

"Well done Douglas..." Ruby's voice called out again, just as the purple mist swelled around him once again. "There's one last test I have for you..."

The mist cleared again, and Douglas found himself standing up, now armed with his energy shotgun, standing on what looked like a rickety wooden dock on the bank of a swamp river.

"Let's see you fire your way though this little river path!" Ruby said. "If you can make it to the end, then I'll concede defeat... If not... Then I'll leave your soul to rot in the realm of the undead!"  
"Hmm... Tough choice..." Douglas said, clicking his gun ready to fire, and running along the dock.

At the end, he found a riverboat. He stepped onto it, and as soon as he did, it began travelling up the river.

"More voodoo tricks..." He mused, glancing around at all the trees and strange ceremonial masks hangs from poles in the river. "Speaking of voodoo!"

He noticed a green, glowing monument on a small piece of ground. As the boat approached, a dark ghost suddenly burst out of it, lunging towards him. Quickly, he fired his gun, blasting at the ghosts that were appearing from it into thin air, before destroying the monument itself.

'Alright...' Douglas thought, switching his gun to it's rapid-fire mode. 'Destroy the towers, destroy the ghosts.'

A short time later, the boat began to approach another glowing monument. Douglas blasted away again, but this time found a crude barrier of stone and metal spikes were blocking his fire. In between blast the approaching ghosts, he fired at the wall. Breaking through it, he was then easily able to destroy the tower.

A banshee-like scream then caught his attention, and Douglas had to roll out of the way of a huge flaming skull as it came flying towards him. Firing again, he aimed for the wall in front of the monster that was throwing it's own skull head towards him as it regenerated. In between rolling for safety, he was ably to reduce the wall to small pieces, taking out the creature with one blast.

'This is getting too spooky for me...' Douglas thought, as the boat approached dry land. 'Oh WHAT? Two towers?"

Indeed, Douglas was now facing two glowing monuments on the land ahead. Quickly blasting away, he had to carefully dodge and roll out of the way of the many ghosts coming out of them. After blasting the right tower, he leapt onto dry land, taking out the left tower behind and the remaining ghosts.

He shook his head, before turning his attention to the route ahead. Stepping between the tribal masks sticking out of the ground, he blasted away at the wall blocking his way, before stepping through the gap he created.

As soon as he did, another flaming skull monster appeared behind a wall blockade up ahead and began launching heads at him.

Zigzagging his way from one side of the small area he was now in to the other, Douglas fired away at the wall, taking out the many candles in front of him as he did so while crumbling the wall with each shot.

His agility was more than enough to avoid death by fiery head, and in no time Douglas had broken through the defences and the monster was history.

Before going on ahead, the fox took a moment to look ahead, and saw - to his dismay - that there another two glowing monuments ahead, guarded by similar wall defences.  
"Here goes..." He sighed, running into the area and firing like there was no tomorrow.

Using the same method of running from one side to the other again, Douglas was able to keep the onslaught of spirits at bay while still working away at the walls that stood between him and the towers.

"Is this your idea of fun?" Smicktor shouted out, directing his question to Mz. Ruby, as he finally took out the first tower, then the second.

He got no response, so took out his anger on an innocent candle by blasting it, before moving onward and up a sloped ramp.

He grumbled again, pushing his way through some thick plants and grass that were in front of him. He ducked under a tree-branch, before stepping through another bush and onto a ground path.

"This is different..." Douglas remarked, looking down on the ground. "Doesn't really look so... Swamp like... In fact..."

Douglas looked around him. He wasn't in a swamp anymore. By the looks of things, it looked like he was more in an Indian jungle.

He looked straight ahead, and saw the Cooper van up ahead.

He ran up to it, ignoring the many chicken feathers around it and the fact the purple mist had vanished from around him, opening up the driver's side and getting inside.

He found Bentley sleeping in the passenger's seat, just like he had been before all the engine problems had just happened.  
Confused, he got in, strapped himself back in, and turned the engine on.

It roared into perfect life, as if there hadn't been a problem.  
The noise woke the turtle up, who yawned back into alertness.

"Wow... That was a strange dream..." He said, adjusting the position of his glasses. "Reminded me of the time in the Haitian jungle when me and the gang fought..."  
"Mz. Ruby?" Douglas finished the sentence for him.  
"Why, yes!" Bentley said, a little surprised. "How did...?"

"Lucky guess." The fox quickly answered, before driving as fast as he could out of jungle.

* * *

Location: Commissioner Barkley's Office, Interpol HQ, Paris, France  
Time: 14:32

"There's something wrong about this..." Barkley thought out loud, rubbing his moustache. "Inspector Fox is too black and white to work with Cooper like Neyla is stating..."

He picked up the newspaper on his desk, and read the front page.

* * *

_Sinister Sixth Evidence No. 55-KB_

_The Sucker Punch Daily article on the arrest of Mz. Ruby_

'_Big Bad Voodoo Mama Turns Herself In!_

_In a shocking turn of events, the sinister Mz. Ruby - head voodoo priestess of the Fiendish Four - last night turned herself in to local police authorities in India, just a few miles from the scenes of the arrest of Sly Cooper just yesterday._

_Mz. Ruby offered only that she 'Had served her purpose' and that 'Douglas Smicktor had proved himself'._

_So it seems that in two weeks, Smicktor has taken out two members of the Fiendish Five, now reducing them to the Fiendish Three. One must wonder: Why the sudden change of heart? Is Clockwerk the next target?_

_Please turn to pages 3-10 for a full round up of these and yesterday's events.'

* * *

_

Barkley smiled. He was very right in thinking that Douglas was alive after all, and that there was a chance he could come over to the right side of the law.

Maybe Carmelita's arrest could be a good thing. After all, there was still a member of the Cooper Gang at large, who would probably try to break his team-mates out soon. If the rumours are true, then if Douglas and her met again...

Only time would tell...


	26. Jailbreak Part 1

"Though admittedly I was a little sceptical at first, Douglas' help proved invaluable during the sleepless week of data crunching it took to eventually tracked down the location of my friends; locked away in the mysterious towers of Prague.

At the moment, they're the unwilling guests of Interpol's most renowned prison warden: the Contessa

While still a criminal psychology student, she entered into a whirlwind romance and married a wealthy aristocrat. Sadly the union was short-lived, as the General suspiciously died a few weeks after the ceremony.

The widowed Contessa put her education and newly acquired estate to work, by opening a Criminal Rehabilitation Centre.

Her pioneering use of hypnotherapy has produced some good results, and has subsequently earned her a prominent position within Interpol.

My friends are locked up somewhere in the clinic, are slated for the Contessa's 'Good Samaritan' brainwashing!

If we don't bust them out soon, they'll be working a 9-5 job selling shoes, and I'll be out two best friends!"

* * *

Bentley and Douglas Smicktor

In:

**Jailbreak

* * *

**

"Is it just me..." Douglas said, staring out the window at the huge Criminal Rehabilitation Centre. "Or is this whole town built around this jail?"  
"That assumption would not be wholly incorrect." Bentley answered, logging off from Thief-Net. "Are you ready to go?"

Douglas checked over his stuff. He had his usual tools, plus a special Binocucom Bentley was able to whip up for him to use, as well as a personal radio system to keep in contact.

"I'm good to go." The fox said, walking out the door of the safe house.

"Testing, ah testing, one two, alpha alpha..." Douglas heard the turtle's voice over the radio waves. "Do you read me?"  
"Yeah, clear as crystal. These things are incredible! It's almost like you're standing right next to me!"  
"That's good to know I haven't lost my 'touch' so to speak. I'm sending you a waypoint..."

Douglas looked up to the sky. In the distance on the other side of the centre, he could see a sort of cartoonish purple outline of his face with a purple beam going down from in into the ground.

"You should make your way over to the Contessa's house. We might be able to eavesdrop on the whereabouts of Sly and Murray." Bentley said.  
"Sounds good, although the idea of getting near the Contessa sounds pretty suicidal..." Douglas said, pulling out his nightstick. "I'm on my way."

'Hmm... Vulture guards...' Douglas thought, kneeling down and looking at the area around him. 'I've heard they're pretty tough. I'd better be stealthy anyway, don't want to alert the Contessa and blow this whole thing. I owe Sly this.'

Douglas waited until the guard patrolling the area just at the bottom of the stairs had his back to him before he started making his way down the stairs. He then broke out into a sprint, before crawling under an old Victorian cart.

Peering out from underneath it, the fox waited until the guard, and the one that came down the road he was looking up both passed, before crawling out and heading forward up the street.  
Seeing a guard coming down the street ahead, Douglas took a left turn at the junction the headed right again.

He had to think on his feet, nearing running into the light of a guard the unexpectedly there. He jumped onto what looked to be a spider's web, but it actually propelled him upward like a mini-trampoline onto the roof of the house it was by.  
He took a moment to bring up the waypoint, figuring out his next move. During the time, he could have sworn he'd heard a bottle clinking nearby.

Noticing an enemy on the rooftop just in front of him, Douglas dropped down into the street again and headed forward under the overhead arch. There were some steps in front of him leading up to a bridge that crossed over the stretch of river that was also acting as a kind of moat for the Rehabilitation Centre.

'The bridge looks too risky right now.' Douglas thought, crouching by a barrel and looking up at the bridge. 'There's too many guards on it. Maybe there's a way under it or over the water...' He noticed a guard walked around the far-left side to the steps, seemingly under the bridge.

Quickly running over to the left side of the steps, he ducked around it.

'That's more like it...' Douglas spied a thinner, smaller bridge that also led to the other side. One that only had a single guard patrolling it.

Douglas backed himself tightly into the corner of the step wall and the bridge support, waiting and listening for the guard. A little smirk appeared on his face as the vulture lumbered past, not detecting the fox at all. Douglas slipped by, and was about to make a break of the bridge, but the guard on it was on his way back over.

Thinking quickly again, Douglas jumped up the series of little wooden roofs in the far side to the very top, and waited for the guard to cross over.

'That's an odd place for a bottle...' Douglas thought, catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye at the strange bottle in the middle of the spider's web next to him.

Running down the roofs a little, he jumped off onto the ground and ran straight across the bridge. It was a risky decision, but one that paid off as the guard only investigated the thump sound that Douglas had made when he landed.

'Hmm... No tramps...' Douglas thought, walking into the area under the bridge. He spied a single hound-like guard slumbering on the end of a wooden walkway over the water, so easily jumped over it and then to the boat in the water without waking it.

Jumping to the walkway on the other side of the boat, he had now crossed the river. Making his way along and up it, h now spied his target: The Contessa's house.

'Oh that's creepy...' He thought. 'Very very creepy... What the?'

He ducked back, nearly getting seen by a red light that suddenly appeared from the far side of the house to where he was. Waiting for it to pass, Douglas looked back out and saw that it was actually the searchlight for a tank that was patrolling the street around The Contessa's house.

'Well, she lives up to her reputation... Unfortunately...'

Running across the street, Douglas jumped over the tiny fencing and jumped over the metal plate on the ground, landing on the wooden slope beyond. He was too good to fall for an obvious spike-trap.  
He continued on, jumping over the spike traps and climbing upward until he seemingly reached the highest point and some fencing.

'Well this isn't it...' he thought. 'I mean, it's the right place... Maybe I need to get higher...'

He glanced to his left, and saw a gap between the roof of the house and the roof over the slope. He jumped though it and onto the higher slope. He then spied the marker he was looking for, on a higher point just over a TV dish.

Going up the remaining slope onto the top of the house's roof, he jumped onto the spider's web and onto his market.  
Douglas whipped out his Binocucom, and saw his own face and Bentley's in the side displays.

"I'm in position on the roof of... Wait!" Douglas started to say. "There she is!" He zoomed in on The Contessa, who was walking up the only road into the centre, before jumping high onto the tops of the walls of the prison.

"She must be making her daily rounds." Bentley remarked. "This makes eavesdropping slightly more difficult that I had... Hold on a second... I'm picking up something... A-ha!"  
"What?"  
"The feathers on my sleep-darts vibrate near sounds!" The turtle said triumphantly.  
"...Okay, am I missing something?"

"No, not at all! You happen to be standing over a parabolic dish! I should be able to hear the frequency at a distance from your position! If I tag The Contessa with my darts, then I'll be able to listen in on whatever she says! We might even learn where she's locked up Sly and Murray!"

"Sweet!" Douglas exclaimed. "So, what should I do now?"  
"Head back to the safe house. When you get back, I'll head on out into the field to do some technical eavesdropping."  
"Wait, you mean I ended up coming out all this way from nothing?"

"In a word: yes. But thanks for scouting out a route for me!"  
"Uh, no problem... I guess..."

Douglas put away his Binocucom, scratching his head with his nightstick, before shrugging and jumping off the roof down into the street, and heading back to the safe house.

* * *

"I've done some pretty low things in my time..." Douglas said, listening in to the last of the transmissions from The Contessa from Bentley's darts. "But hypnotising criminals to tell her where they've stashed the loot? That's a whole new level!"

"It disrespects law enforcement AND thieves at the same time!" Bentley replied back through the radio.  
"Well, at least we know where Sly is... 'The Hole' huh? Tough break."  
"You've heard of it?"

"Thankfully just heard of it. They say it's solitary confinement times a hundred, and then some."  
"Ouch."  
"Yeah, and didn't The Contessa say something about 'motion detectors on the guards as well?"  
"Hmm... As expected, breaking Sly and Murray out will be very difficult... Meet me outside the safe house, all hope is not lost yet."

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Douglas said, jumping down from the top of the steps as Bentley ran across the open street to meet him.  
"I've noticed something about the train tracks running through the town." The turtle started to explain. "Do you see that computer terminal over there?"

Whipping out his Binocucom, he zoomed in on the terminal just by the train tracks.

"It's part of a control system for the electromagnetic train. By hacking all the terminals along the train tracks, I should be able to reverse their polarity... Thereby turning the train into a giant projectile!"

"That's crazy!" The fox exclaimed. "What good will that do?"  
"With some added code, and a little good timing, I can predetermine the trajectory of the train. Without question, its impact on the prison walls should create a hole big enough for Sly to escape through!"  
"...Oh I've got to see this to believe it!"

"A fair trade. I need you to cover me while I hack into the computers. A public transport system shouldn't be rigged up with an alarm system, but you never know..."

Jumping over the train tracks, they quickly made their way up to the train platform, and Bentley began typing away at the controls.  
"Ah, nothing like a good old computer hack job!" He thought aloud as he accessed the programme.

Douglas stood on guard, ready with his energy shotgun to blast anyone who noticed them. He was a little confused by the hacker talk Bentley was using, something about analogue sticks, but he let the turtle do what he was good at.

In no time at all, Bentley had easily hacked the first terminal.  
"The train should be picking up speed." Bentley stated.  
"All right, lets go." Douglas said, nodding.

And so it carried on. Douglas took the lead on route to each new terminal, checking that the coast was clear and standing guard, while Bentley worked away at breaking the security codes with his cyber avatar.

They followed the train tracks around the outskirts of the town, even taking the risk of going through the tunnels along the tracks to reach terminals.

It all became too easy. The route along didn't contain many guards, and Bentley was too good to be beaten by such a simple computer defence system.

By the fifth computer, the train was now travelling extremely fast speed. It was almost a blink and you'd miss it moment.

"Yes!" Bentley said, finishing hacking the fifth terminal. "The train's at full speed!"  
"That cannot be safe..." Douglas remarked, watching the train zip past in barely a second.  
"Now to reverse the polarity..."

They ran over to the last computer, and began hacking away again feverishly.

Douglas was a little worried at this point. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed the speeded up train and became suspicious as to why public transport was running so well.

"Success!" Bentley said.  
"What already?"  
"We have lift-off!"

The train came out of the tunnel next to them, and suddenly sparked off the rails, launching itself high into the air, over the walls of the Rehabilitation Centre, and smashing through the wall right on the other side, right next to 'The Hole'.

"...Dude..." Douglas said, picking his jaw off the floor.  
"Yes?"  
"I now wished I did go to school. That would so be worth learning how to do..."

"Ahem, well I'm glad I have inspired some sort of enthusiasm in you. Murray would be misusing a cliche right now trying to merge it with the word 'awesome'. Speaking off whom, we're not finished just yet. We still have those motion detectors to deal with, and I have just the plan to do it. But first, we'll need to split up..."

* * *

"Why did you grab that bottle?" Douglas asked through the radio, referring to the bottle on the spider web Bentley had jumped on to reach the waypoint.  
"Oh I'll explain later." The turtle took out his Binocucom and looked at the Centre. "Now, all the guards on the walls are outfitted with a motion detecting advice."

"Right, so there's no way for Sly to escape."  
"Unless I take them out with my RC Chopper!" Bentley said with a smile, pulling out a RC control box and activating it. "I'll take out the  
guards, but I need you to somehow bust Sly out of 'The Hole'."  
"No problem..." Douglas said, looking down at the vast drop below. "But don't take too long, I don't feel like standing on this ledge all night.

Pressing the launch button, his RC Chopper instantly flew out of the safe house, and Bentley began dropping bombs on the guards patrolling the walls.

"Oh man, they're firing up at you!" Douglas said, watching through his Binocucom. "With missiles too!"  
"The turtle terror strikes!" Bentley said smugly, having just taken out a guard. "Ah! If that was the avionic package, I'm gonna cry!" Douglas assumed rightly that Bentley had just been hit.

Explosions from missiles and gunfire were lighting up the sky. So much for the silent approach. But one by one, Bentley was able to pick off the guards after dropping some green bombs on them. Douglas has a slight chuckle at some of the strange victory cries the turtle said after taking out a guard, but still stayed focused at the task at hand.

"That's it!" Douglas heard. "The motion detectors are down!"

The fox didn't wait a second to spring into action, quickly moving along the ledge and jumping onto the top of the train that had smashed a hole into the wall.

'Hmm... Simple enough.' He thought, looking at the door of 'The Hole'.  
Aiming his shotgun, Douglas blasted off the reinforced hinges on the corners of the door, before finally blasting off the lock.

Moments later, the door fell to the ground, and Sly Cooper leapt out.

"Well well." The raccoon smirked. "Douglas, this is a pleasant surprise. But we've really got to stop meeting like this."  
"I'll explain later, but this is a jailbreak." The fox said. "Bentley's waiting at the safe house."  
"Ah Bentley. How I've missed that sensuous voice."

"...Uh, right... Look, I don't mean to sound bad, but we're just standing in the middle of..."  
"Don't worry, I'll just use that hook up there to swing onto the top of that train."  
"What, they let you keep your cane?"  
"Not so much keep, as couldn't snatch away from me."  
"...Fair enough. Come on, let's go."  
"That sounds like a plan all right."


	27. Jailbreak Part 2

**Running Like Clockwerk **

I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Neyla or any associated characters. I own Douglas, Jason and Veronica.

Chapter 25 - Jailbreak Part2

* * *

"The tank's moving!" A vulture guard called down from the upper level of the prison. "Open the gates up!"

The front gates into the prison complex opened up, and shortly after Douglas Smicktor walked inside with his hands on his head, the tank following behind him, it's cannon pointing at his head.

"All right, all right! You got me already!" Douglas said, stopping in front of the main building, as did the tank.  
"Shut up prisoner!" The same guard said, jumping down. "We weren't expecting a new prisoner tonight, but I'm sure there's a nice cell..."

Before the guard could continue, he was cut off when Sly snuck up behind him and silenced him with a stealthy knockout.

"That went well." Douglas said, walking over to Sly and pulling out his shotgun.  
"Of course." Sly said. "Now cover your ears."  
"What for?"

The tank started firing, blasting the door down until it was smashed to pieces.  
The purple fox blinked, shoving a finger in each ear, almost deafened by the noise of the blasts.

"Well there goes the silent approach." Sly joked, finding the sight of the usually tough Douglas looking rather silly very funny.  
"You guys head inside, I'll be right behind you." Bentley said through the radio.

* * *

"I'm having a little problem sabotaging the tank..." The turtle's voice said over the radio. "You guys head on, this shouldn't take too long..."  
"Okay Bentley. We're on our way." Douglas replied, as the two entered a large main room, followed moments later by Bentley

"Ok, Bentley, what's next?" The raccoon asked.  
"We need to find a way up into the security room on the upper floor..." The turtle pointed up to a higher room. "But there doesn't seem any way up there directly..."  
"No problem." Sly grinned. "Thinking on my feet is what I do best."

"Most of the security was taken down when we cut off the power on the bridge, but it looks like some of the searchlights have..."  
"Back-up generators." Douglas finished the sentence. "Powering basic defences, I wouldn't step on any of those spike-traps if I were you."  
"I'll keep that in mind." Sly said with a nod.

Douglas watched as the Master Thief ran effortlessly past the moving beams of light and started making his way up the ramps and pipes to the upper level, taking out guards as he did so.

"You know, not every criminal knows about back-up generators in places like these." Bentley stated, curiously looking at the fox.  
Douglas shrugged. "You pick up on these things. Figuring out how to deal with them is the hard part."  
"Well, you do have somewhat of a reputation now of getting into and out of trouble easily."  
"Either I'm good at what I do..." The fox said, watching Sly use a hook to swing across to the other side of the room. "Or I'm not good enough."

In no time at all, Sly had made his way into the security room and had entered the code.

"Success!" Bentley exclaimed, watching the large door open up. "We've got access to solitary confinement!"  
"Looks roomy." Douglas said, walking inside. "Whoa, you're buddy don't look so good."

The three stepped inside solitary confinement, and saw Murray standing in a reinforced chamber, looking around with wild eyes, his hands shaking and occasionally swatting at thin air.

"He's all bug-eyed and twitchy!" Sly said.  
"You said Murray was being forced to eat food covered in spices, right?" Bentley asked.  
"Yeah, he said it was making him feel 'weird'."

"Spices... If The Contessa is in the KLAWW Gang then I guess it's Rajan's spices..." Douglas thought aloud. "The same stuff Dimitri was in charge of shipping..."  
"Remarkable deduction Douglas!" The turtle said. "But unfortunately this is neither the time nor the place for that. Right now we've got to lure Murray out... The hard way..."

As it turned out, the hard way involved Sly making his way towards activation switches while Bentley hacked into the remaining security system from a terminal. This would activate the 'Hypno-Boxes' in the room that, so Bentley reckoned, would be enough to get Murray out. Douglas acted as protection for the turtle in case any curious guards decided to show up.

"What's that sound?" Murray demanded, looking around his cell, before clamping his hands over his ears "Angry... Get... Gone!"  
"I think you made him mad..." Douglas pointed out the reaction to the first Hypno-Box being activated, slightly nervous of the hippo.  
"Excellent!" Bentley said, waiting for Sly to reach the next switch. "By my calculations, when all the boxes are switched on, Murray will have no problem in breaking out!"

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." Murray started singing, now reacting to the second box's activation. "Tip me over and I'LL SMASH UP EVERYTHING!!" He shouted, before roaring in anger.  
"Uh, I'm not so sure that this is a good idea..." Douglas said, pointing his gun at the chamber which the hippo was in.  
"Nonsense! The theory behind this is perfect." Bentley said.  
"Yeah, but in theory everything works!"

"That's the third!" Bentley said, finishing the final hack.  
Murray roared, before oddly barking, and then roaring again, beating his chest with his hands. He then charged out of his chamber, almost knocking the cell's door off their hinges.

"This can't be good." Douglas said.  
"ARGH!!" Murray roared, charging towards the fox.  
"Oh snap!!" Douglas exclaimed, leaping out of the way of the rampaging 'super hero'.

"A little help guys?!??" The fox said, jumping over a table to get some distance between himself and the almost possessed hippo.  
"Douglas, lure Murray towards the Hypno-Boxes!" Bentley said over the radio, taking shelter under a bench in a cell. "The force of his charges should be enough to destroy them!"

Douglas wasn't in any position, or had any time, to argue, so made a sharp turn towards the nearest Box as Murray barged through the table, reducing it to splinters. Diving behind the Box, he carefully peered around the side, watching the hippo approach his position.

Sly leaned on his cane, watching from the upper level as the fox and the hippo played a dangerous game of cat and mouse, involving the destruction of strange hypnotic machinery. It allowed him to size up the abilities Douglas had. From what he'd seen, he was superior to any foe he'd faced before, but didn't have anything close to his thieving powers. Also, he was a more violent and aggressive guy, but could keep himself together when he needed. If they had to fight each other again, it would certainly be interesting.

"Uh... My head..." Murray groaned after destroying the last box. "Who? What? Is this heaven?"  
"Sorry buddy, but you're still here on Earth." Sly said, jumping down and running over to his friend.  
"Just take a few deep breaths, and collect your thoughts." Bentley said.  
"Yeah, that'll work..." Douglas grumbled, trying to catch his breath back.

"Look guys! I've kept this half of the heart safe with me!" The hippo produced the part of Clockwerk he still had. "I've had a hard time keeping it hidden from... The Contessa!"

They turned around to see the Contessa walking away from behind a gate at the other end of the room.

"She's getting away!" Murray said.  
"Murray, lift those bars up..." Sly pointed out the bars in question. "That should open up the gates so we can get after her!"

The muscle of the Cooper Gang had no problem in carrying out the request, easily lifting up both bars and opening up the gate. The Cooper Gang then ran after the spider, as Douglas just caught his breath back and began to follow them out.

"Freeze!" A voice demanded, making the fox stop.  
He slowly turned around, and pointed his weapon towards the group of vulture guards he saw.  
"Don't try anything!" One of them threatened, or at least tried to sound threatening. "You're outnumbered!"

There was silence for a moment. Then Douglas sighed, and began firing. In a matter of seconds, he'd knocked them all out.

"That wasn't even funny." He remarked, turning and leaving the room. "This whole situation isn't fun..."

* * *

"...With the three of us back together, there's no way she can stop us!" Sly stated, the Cooper Gang watching the blimp fly off into the distance.

"Where is she??" Douglas said, running up to the three.  
"Escaped." Bentley stated. "But that aircraft is hardly capable of high-speed or stealth technology. It shouldn't be too hard to track her down."  
The fox nodded. "Sounds like a plan...But you guys better scram, something tells me we're gonna have company all over this place."

* * *

It was great! The gang had been reunited and it was all because of me! Well, myself and Douglas... But Douglas made it clear that while he had a part to play, it was all down to me.

Even the van ride out of town was like a party! Murray had 2 pull over twice because he was laughing so hard! But despite all the jokes, I think something had changed.

Since childhood the 3 of us had never been apart; and our recent isolation gave us pause for thought. We'd also, for the first time, another companion with us.

Douglas was very clear in making his apologies for rebuilding Clockwerk, and insisted that even after helping Sly and Murray out of jail, he still wanted to make it up to us all. Surprisingly, Sly called in the 'favour' that was owed immediately - insisting that Douglas come with us. Reluctantly, more used to going it alone, he agreed.

In only a few months, Douglas had changed from our new enemy, to out new ally, and now was our new friend! He told us stories of his best, and worst, jobs he'd done, and his many run-ins with Constable Neyla. It was almost ironic what differences there were between Sly and Douglas, but downright weird the similarities they had! But at least he didn't have any 'special' interest in the policewoman after her.

Needless to say, we took a few weeks off before going back to work... And for the first time in my life - Murray let me drive!


End file.
